Five lessons from the fossil fuel divestment movement
1. You don’t need to be an expert to get involved: “This is not just for students – everybody lives in a local authority and can get involved,”
2. First give yourself legitimacy: “I wasn’t expecting to be swept up in the biggest divestment movement in history – but the snowball is unstoppable”
3. Put your ego aside: “Most of the things we enjoy today – freedom of speech, freedom of assembly – were brought about by people who wouldn’t see these changes in their lifetimes. We owe it to them to fight for values, not egos and awards.”
4. Plan for reinvestment: “We’re at a crucial point – we need to think carefully about what we want to reinvest in”
5. Have hope – and keep going: “It’s not the Road to Paris, it’s the Path through Paris”
Some of the hundreds of divestment campaigners who gathered in London at the weekend share what the day – and the movement – has taught them. Read the full piece in The Guardian.
Divestment 101 Webinars ONLINE
Divestment 101 Webinars ONLINE
FossilFreeFaith’s Divestment 101 Webinar Series for Canadian Faith Communities: April – May 2015
- The Moral Rationale (we missed the first 7 minutes of this recording, but you can download the presentation through this link.)
- Building Support for Action
- Addressing Trustee Concerns
Divestment 101 Series for Canadian Faith Communities
The first three webinars have passed. If you missed them, you can access the recordings here.
Stay tuned for our next set of webinars. If there is a particular topic you’d like to request, let us know by email or in the comments section below.
Divestment 101 Series:
· April 7, 7-8pm (EDT): The Moral Rationale. Register here.
· May 5, 3-4pm (EDT): Building Support for Action. Register here.
· May 27, 3-4pm (EDT): Addressing Trustee Concerns. Register here.
UN Backs Divestment!
“Everything we do is based on science and the science is pretty clear that we need a world with a lot less fossil fuels,” Nuttall told the Guardian. “We have lent our own moral authority as the UN to those groups or organisations who are divesting. We are saying ‘we support your aims and ambitions because they are fairly and squarely our ambition’.”
Click on the link from The Guardian article below to learn more:
Faith and Divestment: Feb 12th, at York University
A Faith and Justice Perspective: Divestment from Fossil Fuels
“The destruction of the earth’s environment is the human rights challenge of our time.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“If it’s wrong to wreck the climate then it’s wrong to profit from that wreckage.” Do the Math: Bill McKibbon, 350.0rg
Thursday, February 12th, 2015 4pm-6pm
140 McLaughlin College
Senior Common Room
Hosted by the Student Christian Movement & Divest York
Come celebrate Global Divestment Day with the Student Christian Movement and Divest York from a faith and justice perspective!
Consensus Scientific studies conclude that over 80% of the fossil fuel reserves must be left in the ground, and not burned, if we are to stay under 2 degrees celsius of global warming. Divestment is one tool to remove the social license for extracting and burning fossil fuels and the resulting CO2 pollution of the atmosphere and the oceans. As fossil fuel reserves become unburnable (stranded) in the medium term, divestment is also an important fiduciary (faithful) decision.
Join us as we welcome Professor Walter Whiteley to host our discussion.
Professor Walter Whiteley, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Member of the Graduate Programs in Mathematics, in Education, in Computer Science
Former member: Board of Trustees, York University Pension Fund
Member of Divest York working group, Climate Justice Group, the Advisory Board of York University Student Christian Movement
Download the event poster here.
For more information, contact: york@scmcanada.org
