Divest is Best

By Anna Brook and K. Louisa Knight

Saving the planet might not motivate you to move your money.  But you probably want to keep your hard-earned cash safe, right? If so, read on!

The divestment movement is growing.  Over the last year or so many universities, faith groups, cities and individuals have been pledging to divest from fossil fuels.  There are campaign groups all over the world encouraging organisations to move their money out of fossil fuel companies in order to protect our planet.  After the People’s Climate March on 21st September 2014 the heirs to the fabled Rockefeller oil fortune withdrew their funds from fossil fuel investments.  The University of Glasgow was the first in the UK to announce that it would divest its £129 million endowment from fossil fuels, and in Sheffield, students are running an active divestment campaign, with actions planned for Global Divestment Day on 13th February 2015.

Whatever your motivation, maybe you don’t know where to start or it all feels too big a job or too much hassle. We know. We’re not there yet either. But with the start of Global Divestment Week we decided to put a few ideas together about how to start thinking about using your money in the fight against climate change.  Many people believe that this is one of the most powerful things we as individuals can do, and we hope this blog will help you take your first (or next) step.

D = Drive to do something. The first thing is always to get yourself motivated. There are plenty of reasons to stop investing in fossil fuels. Take your pick. We’ve chosen two. Firstly, there’s a risk to your money. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, has ordered an investigation ‘into the risk of fossil fuel companies causing a major economic crash if future climate change rules render their coal, oil and gas assets worthless.’  Secondly, and we’d argue far more importantly, there’s a risk to our planet and our children’s future. We need to keep 80% of known fossil fuels in the ground if we are to stop the earth warming by 2 degrees – the limit agreed to by countries across the world.

I = Inspirational investigation! We found that once we started reading about climate change, the need to think about where we put our cash became more obvious. It also changed our perspective on money, enabling us to think about it in a different, and more positive way. By moving your money into places that do not invest in fossil fuels, you can actual feel good about it! Things like whether you are getting the best interest rate (which, lets face it, you never are because things change so rapidly) becomes less important. For inspiration, check out these links to divestment campaigns from 350.org and Go Fossil Free.

V =  Value. Someone’s done the hard work for us on the first part of this one! Our bank accounts, any savings and mortgages can all be invested by companies that have pledged not to invest in fossil fuels.  Move Your Money gives some good suggestions for moving money as well as some practical tips about how to do it. It is much easier now than it used to be. Any money you are putting towards a pension is also important, but this probably needs a longer game-plan because, depending on where you work, you may not have a choice about your pension. We’d suggest getting involved in a campaign or at least writing a letter to the place you work and your pension company to let them know you’re worried. Ed Davey, the energy secretary, said at the end of last year that investing in fossil fuels is becoming increasingly risky because global action to tackle climate change will curb demand, forcing companies to leave unprofitable reserves in the ground – that could become the ‘sub-prime assets of the future.’

E = Energy. Switching your home energy package to a 100% green tariff is probably one of the easiest things you can do and it won’t necessarily cost you more either. In Sheffield, you can sign up to the Big Switch (collective switching scheme) and you can now specify that you’d like a green tariff. The green tariff we like best is from Ecotricity. Ecotricity is recommended by Oxfam, Christian Aid, The Soil Association & The Ecologist Magazine, and reinvests more per customer on green initiatives than the other UK suppliers together.

S = Sing. Of course, being Sheffield Sings out for the Climate, we wanted to include some singing, and luckily we found this video; ‘Divest it like it’s hot!’ made by students.

T = Tell other people what you’re trying to do and encourage them to do it too! You can tweet, share this on Facebook, or just have a chat with friends.

Here at Sheffield Sings out for the Climate we all have a long way to go before our financial lives are fully “clean and green”. However, we are using this year’s divestment day campaign as a spring board for moving closer to that goal. We hope you’ll join us!