In a step towards helping in the fight against climate change, the Church of England and The Church Commissioners have announced a £12 million divestment plan under which they will be selling off their investments in coal and tar sands.
This divestment plan by one of the world’s richest institutes is hailed as a victory for campaigners urging institutions to pull out of such investments.
“From today neither body, nor the CBF Church of England funds, will make any direct investments in any company where more than 10% of its revenues are derived from the extraction of thermal coal or the production of oil from tar sands”, read a statement released by the Church of England yesterday.
“Climate change is the most pressing moral issue in our world,” said Bishop Nick Holtam, the lead bishop on the environment at the Church of England, the mother church of the world’s 80 million Anglicans.
The move follows divestment by various church dioceses worldwide, the University of Glasgow and Stanford University, in a grassroots movement modelled on 1980s opposition to apartheid in South Africa.
“The Church has a moral responsibility to speak and act on both environmental stewardship and justice for the world`s poor who are most vulnerable to climate change,” said Richard Burridge, deputy chair of the Church`s Ethical Investment Advisory Group.
“This responsibility encompasses not only the Church`s own work to reduce our own carbon footprint, but also how the Church`s money is invested and how we engage with companies on this vital issue.”
According to the official statement no direct investments would be made in any company where over 10 per cent of revenues derived from thermal coal extraction or oil production from tar sands.
In addition, the Church`s three National Investing Bodies are to increase their low-carbon investments, and it will engage with companies and policy makers ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
“We need governments meeting in Paris at the end of this year to agree long term global emissions targets with a clear pathway to a low carbon future,” said Tom Joy, Director of Investments at the Church Commissioners.
The owner of roughly £9 billion in investments that fund its work and clergy pensions, the Church previously led a shareholder push to urge oil and gas giant BP to be more open about how climate change could affect its business.
The announcement comes ahead of Pope Francis` release of an encyclical setting out Roman Catholic doctrine on environmental issues, which is expected to make waves on the global warming debate.
For those of you who are interested in the climate change policy, they can find it here [PDF].
