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The
Rockefellers, who made their vast fortune on oil, and other philanthropies and
high-wealth individuals on Monday will announce pledges to divest a total of US$50
billion from fossil fuel investments, AP/Reuters/RT report.
GRAPHITTI NEWS gathered the
Global Divest-Invest coalition will announce new pledges and members one day before
120 heads of state address the United Nations on how their countries will
contribute to a global effort to halt a dangerous rise in temperatures.
Since
the divestment movement launched three years ago, some 650 individuals and 180
institutions, including 50 new foundations, which hold over US$50 billion in
total assets, pledged to divest from fossil fuels over five years using a
variety of approaches.
One
of the signatories is the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Stephen Heintz, president
of the fund, said the move to divest away from fossil fuels would be in line
with the Rockefellers' wishes.
"We
are quite convinced that if he were alive today, as an astute businessman
looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing
in clean, renewable energy," Heintz said in a statement.
Since
January 2014, commitments by campuses, churches, cities, states, hospitals,
pension funds, and others in the United States and abroad doubled, from 74 to
180, according to philanthropic giving consultancy Arabella Advisors.
One
of the higher profile education institution divestments came in May, when
Stanford University said it will no longer use any of its $18.7 billion
endowment to invest in coal mining companies.
While
some smaller liberal colleges have made divestment announcements, some larger
institutions have been reluctant.
The
University of California voted last week to maintain its investments in fossil
fuels, frustrating a student-led effort to divest its portfolio in oil, natural
gas and coal.
South
African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an anti-Apartheid figure who has been a strong
voice on the need for economic divestments, will add to Monday's announcements
in a recorded video announcement in which he will call for a freeze on all new
fossil fuel exploration.
"We
can no longer continue feeding our addiction to fossil fuels as if there is no
tomorrow, for there will be no tomorrow," he said.
Meanwhile media reports indicate that America’s biggest “oil family”, the Rockefellers, has
announced it will get rid of any investments or holdings in fossil fuels from
its US$860 million charitable fund, and target clean energy instead.
The
announcement
is part of a US$50 billion pledge by over 180 institutions to cut oil, natural
gas, and coal from their portfolios and redirect investment into clean energy.
“Our
immediate focus will be on coal and tar sands, two of the most intensive
sources of carbon emissions,” the statement said,
adding that investment in the two sectors will be reduced to less than 1
percent of the total portfolio by the end of 2014.
Coal
and tar sands are two of the biggest carbon emitters.
The
Rockefeller Brothers Fund was established in 1940 from wealth acquired through
the family’s company Standard Oil, once the world’s largest oil refiner.
Monday’s
announcement comes ahead of today’s United Nations summit on climate change,
where 120 global leaders, including US President Barack Obama, have gathered to
discuss how to combat carbon emissions and global warming.
ExxonMobil,
Conoco, and Chevron are the modern day successors of the original Standard Oil,
which was such a big oil company the US Supreme Court said it violated
antitrust laws, and it was broken up in 1911.
“John
D Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil, moved America out of whale oil and
into petroleum,” Stephen Heintz, president of the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund, said, saying that if John D. Rockefeller were alive
today, he would invest in clean, renewable energy.
About
7 percent of the fund is currently invested in dirty fossil fuels.
In
2013, the Rockefeller charity gave over US$6 million in grants to sustainable
development projects.
Many
American universities have also cut their ties with 'Big Oil', most prominently
Stanford and Harvard, which both have multi-billion dollar endowments. The
University of California school system says it won’t divest from fossil fuels,
an unpopular choice amongst students.
A
nice gesture
The
switch won’t be immediate or apply to the full US$860 million in charitable
funds. The “divestment” will only apply to 10 percent of the
endowment, an approved commitment from the fund’s board of trustees in line
with the organization's sustainable development goals.
“There may
continue to be minimal investments in our portfolio in those energy sectors,”
the statement said, clarifying it will be a “two-step”
process.
The divestment program will
be conducted with the overall organization’s finances in mind; that is they
won’t divest if such a move will negatively alter the charity’s day-to-day
operations.
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