COP 22: Calls From Global Faith Groups For Divestment From Fossil Fuels

Leaders from global faith groups, financial institutions and foundations at COP22 handed over the Global Interfaith Statement, challenging all sovereign wealth funds and state pension funds – collectively worth more than $19 trillion – to divest from fossil fuels and invest in the green economy and in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

More than thirty faith groups globally collaborated in drafting the statement, which was introduced, along with thousands of supporting signatures, at the side event “Building the Divest-Invest Movement with Faiths, Foundations and Finance”.

Global society’s continued use of fossil fuels and other extractive industries, while knowing the damage they cause, is ethically untenable.

It is a powerful reminder to governments of the moral obligation to stop funding the toxic fossil fuel industry and instead direct those resources to fund climate solutions, noting that “global society’s continued use of fossil fuels and other extractive industries, while knowing the damage they cause, is ethically untenable.”

Solutions for a just transition must revolve around developing renewable energy sources and increasing the support to community-led initiatives so the world, especially those who have done less to contribute to global warming, can adapt and tackle climate change impacts.