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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/26/the-people-taking-their-money-out-of-coal-oil-and-gas
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| The people taking their money out of coal, oil and gas | The people taking their money out of coal, oil and gas |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| “They cannot expect to use our money to invest in the extraction industries” | “They cannot expect to use our money to invest in the extraction industries” |
| Paul Mathias, 62, is from Northwich in Cheshire. A retired immigration officer, he has been campaigning on climate change for the past decade. | Paul Mathias, 62, is from Northwich in Cheshire. A retired immigration officer, he has been campaigning on climate change for the past decade. |
| Inspired by Naomi Klein’s book This Changes Everything and campaign group 350.org, six months ago he and his wife gave Lloyds notice of intent that if they did not provide them with a fossil-free option they would leave the bank. Having received no response, in February they decided to celebrate Global Divestment Day by doing just that. They set up a current account with Nationwide and put their savings into instant access accounts with Triodos and Ecology. Paul said: | Inspired by Naomi Klein’s book This Changes Everything and campaign group 350.org, six months ago he and his wife gave Lloyds notice of intent that if they did not provide them with a fossil-free option they would leave the bank. Having received no response, in February they decided to celebrate Global Divestment Day by doing just that. They set up a current account with Nationwide and put their savings into instant access accounts with Triodos and Ecology. Paul said: |
| As Paul Polman [CEO of Unilever] said last week there will be no economy if we do not tackle climate change. Divestment needs to be promulgated widely as an antidote to the prevarication of our governments who talk, talk and talk some more while allowing emissions to go on rising, and cannot see beyond growth of GDP nor shake off the stranglehold of the corporations. Once you realise that large financial institutions are so committed to investment in the extraction industries, so the need to tell them they cannot expect to use our money anymore to do that becomes clear. | As Paul Polman [CEO of Unilever] said last week there will be no economy if we do not tackle climate change. Divestment needs to be promulgated widely as an antidote to the prevarication of our governments who talk, talk and talk some more while allowing emissions to go on rising, and cannot see beyond growth of GDP nor shake off the stranglehold of the corporations. Once you realise that large financial institutions are so committed to investment in the extraction industries, so the need to tell them they cannot expect to use our money anymore to do that becomes clear. |
| Related: Keep it in the Ground Q&A: how to divest your personal finance | Related: Keep it in the Ground Q&A: how to divest your personal finance |
| Paul has now set his sights on moving the money he has saved in ISAs, with a little help from the Your Ethical Money website and has just cashed a pension fund he had with Aviva, which he plans to invest in a fossil free ISA with Triodos. | Paul has now set his sights on moving the money he has saved in ISAs, with a little help from the Your Ethical Money website and has just cashed a pension fund he had with Aviva, which he plans to invest in a fossil free ISA with Triodos. |
| Moving to Nationwide was extremely easy. They score well on ethical money and have a local branch. Moving my stocks and shares ISA obviously needed research but was still perfectly doable. | Moving to Nationwide was extremely easy. They score well on ethical money and have a local branch. Moving my stocks and shares ISA obviously needed research but was still perfectly doable. |
| “It has created a ripple of awareness up the chain of command” | “It has created a ripple of awareness up the chain of command” |
| Elizabeth Williams, 43, is a massage therapist from Calgary, Alberta, in Canada. Her concerns about climate change come from witnessing changing weather patterns in her home town of Canmore in the Rocky mountains: | Elizabeth Williams, 43, is a massage therapist from Calgary, Alberta, in Canada. Her concerns about climate change come from witnessing changing weather patterns in her home town of Canmore in the Rocky mountains: |
| Snow was trucked in this February for the Canmore Winter Festival. Many local fundraising events, such as ski races, have seen decimating attendance or been cancelled outright this winter. For a town that gained international notoriety for hosting Nordic ski races for Calgary’s 1988 Winter Olympics, the lack of winter here is crushing revenue sources dependent on winter weather. Locals are referring to it as “the winter that never happened.” The North American media does not often cover climate issues. You are hard pressed to even find the words “climate change” in public print. To bring it up in conversation ruffles feathers, you can feel it dividing the crowd; those that shrink from the very term as if you were asking for spare change. | Snow was trucked in this February for the Canmore Winter Festival. Many local fundraising events, such as ski races, have seen decimating attendance or been cancelled outright this winter. For a town that gained international notoriety for hosting Nordic ski races for Calgary’s 1988 Winter Olympics, the lack of winter here is crushing revenue sources dependent on winter weather. Locals are referring to it as “the winter that never happened.” The North American media does not often cover climate issues. You are hard pressed to even find the words “climate change” in public print. To bring it up in conversation ruffles feathers, you can feel it dividing the crowd; those that shrink from the very term as if you were asking for spare change. |
| Elizabeth is self-employed and not part of a company pension scheme so she has been contributing to mutual funds – a retirement savings plan and savings account – for many years. She had told her financial advisor she wanted to move her holdings out of carbon, but received little back. But the rise and rise of the divestment movement changed this: | Elizabeth is self-employed and not part of a company pension scheme so she has been contributing to mutual funds – a retirement savings plan and savings account – for many years. She had told her financial advisor she wanted to move her holdings out of carbon, but received little back. But the rise and rise of the divestment movement changed this: |
| I have asked for green/ethical portfolios before and received the same brick walls and platitudes. Once I mentioned Carney’s recent announcements to the UK bank and drew his attention to the Guardian’s divestment campaign, he took more note. | I have asked for green/ethical portfolios before and received the same brick walls and platitudes. Once I mentioned Carney’s recent announcements to the UK bank and drew his attention to the Guardian’s divestment campaign, he took more note. |
| Her financial advisor wrote to his executives to make them aware that clients were seeking zero carbon funds. He later responded offering her a fund that does not have direct investments in fossil fuel companies. | Her financial advisor wrote to his executives to make them aware that clients were seeking zero carbon funds. He later responded offering her a fund that does not have direct investments in fossil fuel companies. |
| We live in a community very interested in the environment – it’s a no brainer for him to place himself ahead of the curve. Obviously my finances are relatively insignificant, what I do find significant is the ripple of awareness this has had up his chain of command. | We live in a community very interested in the environment – it’s a no brainer for him to place himself ahead of the curve. Obviously my finances are relatively insignificant, what I do find significant is the ripple of awareness this has had up his chain of command. |
| “Most people go with the flow, not realising they have a choice” | “Most people go with the flow, not realising they have a choice” |
| Steve O’Connor, 42, says it was “ridiculously easy” to move his pension fund. | Steve O’Connor, 42, says it was “ridiculously easy” to move his pension fund. |
| He works as an IT consultant and is from Canberra in Australia. In 2012, after reading Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article he decided to look into where his pension fund was invested. | He works as an IT consultant and is from Canberra in Australia. In 2012, after reading Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article he decided to look into where his pension fund was invested. |
| Even though I’d been concerned about climate change for a while, it [the article] really seemed to simplify the issue for me. Here in Canberra, the Australian National University made a decision to divest from some fossil fuel companies, and it caused a massive political backlash that nobody seemed to expect. So the campaign obviously touched a nerve! | Even though I’d been concerned about climate change for a while, it [the article] really seemed to simplify the issue for me. Here in Canberra, the Australian National University made a decision to divest from some fossil fuel companies, and it caused a massive political backlash that nobody seemed to expect. So the campaign obviously touched a nerve! |
| Steve used an online tool provided by the Asset Owners Disclosure Project and found that his pension fund scored poorly. He wrote to his provider and although they sent a “very polite” reply, they didn’t address his concerns so he decided to switch to the Climate Advocacy Fund provided by Australian Ethical. The fund does not invest in coal, oil or coal seam gas nor in companies advocating against a clean energy economy. | Steve used an online tool provided by the Asset Owners Disclosure Project and found that his pension fund scored poorly. He wrote to his provider and although they sent a “very polite” reply, they didn’t address his concerns so he decided to switch to the Climate Advocacy Fund provided by Australian Ethical. The fund does not invest in coal, oil or coal seam gas nor in companies advocating against a clean energy economy. |
| Many people don’t even realise that they are invested in fossil fuels indirectly through their pension funds. From my experience here in Australia, super funds are usually chosen by employers, and most people just go with the flow and stick with that, not realising that they have a choice. Sadly, we’re at a point where our choices now will have ramifications for hundreds, if not thousands of generations to come, and I see fossil fuel divestment as a way that ordinary people can collectively make an important statement about how we want the future to look. | Many people don’t even realise that they are invested in fossil fuels indirectly through their pension funds. From my experience here in Australia, super funds are usually chosen by employers, and most people just go with the flow and stick with that, not realising that they have a choice. Sadly, we’re at a point where our choices now will have ramifications for hundreds, if not thousands of generations to come, and I see fossil fuel divestment as a way that ordinary people can collectively make an important statement about how we want the future to look. |
| Steve is also part of the team building SolarShare, a community owned solar farm, which they believe on completion will be Australia’s largest. “Of course, the flip side to divestment, is re-investment,” he says. | Steve is also part of the team building SolarShare, a community owned solar farm, which they believe on completion will be Australia’s largest. “Of course, the flip side to divestment, is re-investment,” he says. |
| Keep it in the Ground is the Guardian’s climate change campaign, urging the world’s largest charitable foundations to move their money out of fossil fuels. As part of this, we are running a series and hosting a webchat on personal divestment. Get everything in your inbox. |