Tuesday, September 23, 2014

As Rockefeller Oil Dynasty Undertakes To ‘Divest’ From Fossil Fuels, Philanthropies And Investors Pledge US$50bln Fossil Fuel Divestment


AFP Photo/David McNew

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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