By Verghese V Joseph –
Responding to Pope Francis’ call in his Laudato Si encyclical to keep fossil fuels underground, 95 Catholic institutions have reacted positively by divesting themselves from fossil fuel companies and have begun to invest only in socially and ethically responsible companies that do not cause harm to people and the environment.
Indian Catholic Matters supports Global Catholic Climate Movement.
The Global Catholic Climate Movement encourages all types of Catholic organizations to divest from fossil fuel companies as part of their ethical investment commitments, to respond to the Pope’s encyclical and the COP21 statement of Catholic Bishops from all continents. This movement is an invitation to join the larger Divest-Invest group of nearly 700 institutions who control over $5 trillion in assets and have committed to divest.
Pope Francis in 2016 had urged the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics and all people of good will to take urgent action against the injustice of climate change and the ecological crisis, to protect the poor and future generations. His encyclical letter Laudato Si is a compelling call to care for our common home, Earth, building on a long history of Catholic teaching. The Catholic Church with a collective carbon footprint of 1.2 billion faithful (17% of the world’s population) and the institutional Church (220,000 parishes, 150,000 schools) has a significant role to play in addressing the climate crisis. Incidentally, Catholic institutions are leading the fossil fuels divestment movement worldwide.
According to the Holy Father, “What is even more worrying is the continued search for new fossil fuel reserves, whereas the Paris Agreement clearly urged keeping most fossil fuels underground. This is why we need to talk together – industry, investors, researchers and consumers – about transition and the search for alternatives. Civilization requires energy, but energy use must not destroy civilization!”
The Laudato Si Pledge campaign also received support from high-level Church leaders from around the globe including Cardinal Turkson, Cardinal Tagle, Cardinal Ribat, Cardinal Cupich and Cardinal Marx. It has also garnered the support of major environmental leaders including the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, former UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres and May Boeve, the Executive Director of 350.org. Pope Francis’ endorsement, added to those of other Catholic and environmental leaders, demonstrates the commitment to environmental justice from the highest levels of the Church.
In 2016, the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) launched the Catholic Divest – Invest Project inviting Catholic institutions to divest from fossil fuel companies and invest only in socially and ethically responsible companies that do not cause harm to people and the environment.
Tomás Insua, Executive Director of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, said, “We are grateful and inspired by Pope Francis’ endorsement of the Laudato Si Pledge. With 1.2 billion Catholics around the world, we have a critical role to play in tackling climate change and the wider ecological crisis. Pope Francis has already changed the discussion around climate change and this pledge is inviting us to put the Church’s teachings into action and answer the urgent call for strong political action and lifestyle change put forth in Laudato Si.”
This September, the world’s attention will turn to a global climate summit in San Francisco. The summit will showcase commitments from non-state actors–businesses, cities, and faith communities—that are making bold progress on climate change. The summit will be the occasion to launch the new joint catholic divestment announcement where Catholic institutions will publicly commit to removing their money from fossil fuels companies. Inspired by the exhortation of Pope Francis, the Global Catholic Climate Movement officially invites your catholic institution, as member of the GCCM, to take a public prophetic stand for the common home by joining the next Catholic divestment announcement.
How to join: Sign this Catholic fossil fuels divestment commitment within August 24 choosing the commitment of your institution:
Fossil Free: No actual investments in fossil fuels and committed to avoiding any fossil fuel investments in the future.
Full: Commitment to divest from any fossil fuels company
Partial: Commitment to divest across asset classes from some fossil fuel companies (coal, oil, natural gas) or to divest from all fossil fuel companies (coal, oil, natural gas) but only in specific asset classes (e.g. direct investments, domestic equity)
Coal and Tar Sands: commitment to divest from any coal and tar sands companies.
Coal only: commitment to divest from any coal companies.
This commitment can be signed both by Catholic institutions who already avoid investing in fossil fuel corporations and by Catholic institutions deciding to remove their funds from fossil fuel companies. This is a commitment to divest within 5 years, so it’s fine to sign it even if your organization hasn’t implemented the divestment decision yet.
Joining the announcement, you agree to GCCM making public your organization’s name and statement on an international press release and on the GCCM Divest Hub
Indian Catholic Matters hopes that your catholic institution will be able to take this important prophetic stand for our common home.