The Guardian, one of the world’s most respected and influential newspapers, is joining the fight to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Earlier today, they launched a bold new partnership with 350.org and have signed on to the fossil fuel divestment campaign in a big way:
In a watershed moment for the growing divestment movement, The Guardian is setting its sights on the contradictory fossil fuel investments of two of the largest philanthropic health and development organizations: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation here in North America and the U.K.'s Welcome Trust. Both are heavily invested in the industry wreaking havoc on our climate, a fact that’s at odds with their missions to create a better world.
The Gates Foundation alone has an endowment of $43.5 billion. If a foundation of their profile -- and explicitly committed to global health -- were to take a stand against fossil fuels, it would send a strong message to world leaders (and world markets).
Tackling climate change and promoting global health are two sides of the same coin. That's what we need the Gates Foundation & the Welcome Trust to understand. Together, we can convince these leading philanthropic organizations to stop profiting from the industry wrecking our chances for a safe, healthy future.
We know this can work -- it already is! The fossil fuel divestment movement is winning new victories every week, from the City of Oslo to the Rockefeller Foundation. Each act of divestment helps build an even stronger case for keeping fossil fuels in the ground.
With enough of us on board -- and working hand-in-hand with The Guardian newspaper -- we know we can convince huge health and development charities like Gates and Welcome to divest.
To move the needle at the world's biggest foundations, we need a big show of support:
It’s counter-productive (and hypocritical) to help those affected by climate change using money made from the fossil fuel industry. And it’s increasingly clear that fossil fuels are a bad long-term investment. (1)
To avoid the worst effects of climate change, we’re going to have to leave 80% of fossil fuels in the ground -- which means current fossil fuel shares are massively overvalued, and investors could lose billions. It also means we have a huge fight ahead of us -- a fight that we can only win with a broad coalition of allies.
Over the coming months, we’ll be working with The Guardian, Avaaz and other partners to help us secure some major divestment wins around the world. Join us.
Thank you,
Phil
P.S. Support our work and think others should too? Here's a chance to help 350 get some funds for free: We're one of CREDO's beneficiary organizations this month -- and the more people vote for us, the bigger their contribution. If you support groundbreaking climate work like fossil fuel divestment, click here to vote for 350.org as a CREDO beneficiary.
1. Unhealthy Investments (Medact, Healthy Planet UK, the Climate and Health Council, Medsin, the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare)
