Guardian Media Group to divest its £800m fund from fossil fuels | Divestment

“Why we are divesting from fossil fuels’, Guardian Media Group chair Neil Berkett – video

GMG becomes largest fund yet known to pull out of coal, oil and gas companies in a move chair Neil Berkett calls a ‘hard-nosed business decision’ justified on ethical and financial grounds.

The Guardian Media Group (GMG) is to sell all the fossil fuel assets in its investment fund of over £800m, making it the largest yet known to pull out of coal, oil and gas companies.

The decision was justified on both financial and ethical grounds, said Neil Berkett, GMG chair: “It is a hard-nosed business decision, but it is influenced by the values of our organisation. It is a holistic decision taking into account all of those things.”

Berkett said fossil fuel assets had performed relatively poorly in recent years and were threatened by future climate change action, while an ethical fund already held by GMG had been a “stellar” performer and renewable energy was growing strongly. “This means we can adopt socially responsible investment criteria without putting at risk the core purpose of GMG’s investment funds: to generate long-term returns that guarantee the financial future and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity,” he said.

Why the Guardian Media Group is getting out of fossil fuels

Neil Berket, Read more

A series of analyses have shown that current reserves of coal, oil and gas are several times greater than can be burned whilst limiting climate change to the internationally agreed limit of 2C. The fast-growing, UN-backed divestment campaign argues that the business models of fossil fuel companies, which continue to spend billions on searching for new reserves, are endangering the climate. The campaign also argues many fossil fuel assets could become worthless if the world’s governments act to curb global warming, a risk taken seriously by the World Bank and the Bank of England.

…(read more).

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

7 reasons not to miss Harvard Heat Week

Friends,

In just under two weeks, people from across New England will converge in Cambridge for Harvard Heat Week.

On April 12th-17th, we’re standing together to tell Harvard to stand on the right side of history by divesting from fossil fuels. And we’ll be kicking it off on the 12th with an incredible lineup of social movement leaders — including 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, Hip-Hop Caucus founder Reverend Lennox Yearwood, and many more. Seats are limited! Click here to reserve your spot for the April 12th kickoff event.

350.org
See you in Cambridge for Harvard Heat Week!
You may sign up here.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

In Transition 2.0: a story of resilience and hope in extraordinary times

TransitionTowns

Published on Nov 25, 2013

You can now order the DVD of this film, in a deluxe or a budget version, from http://www.transitionnetwork.org/tran…. It features the following subtitles, all of which have been done by volunteers in their respective countries: Albanian, Croatian, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish. You will also find the links for ordering NTSC versions if you are in the US or Japan, or ordering from Germany. Here’s how we describe it:

“In Transition 2.0 is an inspirational immersion in the Transition movement, gathering stories from around the world of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. You’ll hear about communities printing their own money, growing food, localising their economies and setting up community power stations. It’s an idea that has gone viral, a social experiment that is about responding to uncertain times with solutions and optimism. In a world of increasing uncertainty, here is a story of hope, ingenuity and the power of growing vegetables in unexpected places”

www.transitionnetwork.org

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice