December, 07 2016, 08:15am EDT
Scientists and Laureates Urge Nobel Prize to Divest from Fossil Fuels
Prize winners argue climate-destroying investments conflict with Alfred Nobel’s will
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Nobel prize winners and scientists urge the Nobel Foundation to divest its $420 million endowment from fossil fuels in a letter released today, ahead of the Nobel Prize 2016 ceremonies this Saturday. They argue that the institution 'should not profit from the destruction of our planet's climate'.
Among the 14 laureates that signed the letter are renowned scientists such as atmospheric chemist Paul Josef Crutzen, physicist David Wineland and biologist Sir John Sulston, and several winners of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize including Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, Yemeni women's rights campaigner Tawakkol Karman and Argentinian human rights and peace activist Adolfo Perez Esquivel. The letter has also been signed by eminent scientific contributors to the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). [1]
"In his will, Alfred Nobel wrote that prizes should be awarded to those who 'shall have conferred the greatest benefit to [hu]mankind'. As laureates and scientists embracing Alfred Nobel's final words, it is our expectation that the Nobel Foundation also act in the interest of humankind which includes caring for the health of the planet which we all rely upon," the letter states.
Stockholm-based grassroots group Divest Nobel who initiated the call on the Nobel Foundation to cut its ties to the fossil fuel industry is organising events around this year's Nobel prize award ceremonies in Stockholm on Saturday to keep up the pressure.
The letter comes less than one week ahead of the Divest-Invest Network releasing the third annual report on the state of the divestment movement. The report assesses the growth and impact of the movement over the past year, highlighting new divestment commitments and revealing the latest figures of commitments and divested assets under management. [2]
To date, over 600 institutions have committed to stop investments in fossil fuel companies. Among them are cities such as Oslo, Paris, Berlin, Seattle and Melbourne, educational institutions and academies including more than a quarter of all universities in the UK, the Australian and California Academies of Science, hundreds of faith institutions and foundations. The aim of the divestment campaign Fossil Free is to weaken the fossil fuel industry's political influence by eroding public acceptance of the main drivers of climate change.
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
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Trump Blockade of Venezuela, Murders on High Seas Violate International Law: UN Experts
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Experts at the United Nations on Wednesday issued a scathing rebuke to US President Donald Trump's aggression toward Venezuela, saying attempts to impose an oil blockade based on US-imposed sanctions and a series of bombings of alleged drug-trafficking vessels at sea are clear violations of international law.
“There is no right to enforce unilateral sanctions through an armed blockade,” said the UN experts.
According to their statement:
A blockade is a prohibited use of military force against another country under article 2(4) of the UN Charter. “It is such a serious use of force that it is also expressly recognized as illegal armed aggression under the General Assembly’s 1974 Definition of Aggression,” the experts said.
“As such, it is an armed attack under article 51 of the Charter – in principle giving the victim State a right of self-defence,” they said.
“The illegal use of force, and threats to use further force at sea and on land, gravely endanger the human right to life and other rights in Venezuela and the region,” the experts said.
Aggression is a crime attracting universal jurisdiction under international law, which gives all countries the power to prosecute it, although the most senior government leaders retain immunity from foreign prosecution while still in office.
The experts behind the joint statement were: Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Surya Deva, Special Rapporteur on the right to development; and Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
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"The threat is not Venezuela. The threat is the US government." —Venezuela UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada
The aggression of the US government toward Venezuela was also rebuked at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday, with China, Russia, Cuba, Colombia, and others backing Venezuela's call for an end to the series of criminal boat bombings against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific and the unlawful seizure of oil tankers as a way to coerce the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela's UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada equated Trump's Dec. 16 order that the US was establishing a "total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers" coming into or out of Venezuela an admission of "a crime of aggression" by the US president, who Moncada said wants to “turn back the clock of history 200 years to establish a colony" in the Latin American country.
Moncada characterized the recent US seizure of two oil tankers in international waters as "worse than piracy" and "robbery carried out by military force," warning that such brazen acts set "an extremely serious precedent for the security and navigation of international trade" in the region and worldwide.
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Human rights groups, UN experts, and scholars of international have all stated that Trump's extrajudicial targeting of alleged drug boats—which have now left over 100 people killed—are nothing short of "murder" on the high seas.
In their Wednesday statement, the four UN experts said the killings at sea ordered by Trump "amount to violations of the right to life," citing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the US government ratified in 1992.
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In his remarks, Moncada said Venezuela would defend itself against aggression but did not consider itself at war with the United States.
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