by Ken Baer
 Despite bitter cold and winds, activists rallied in teh Wall Street financial district in February to urge investors to stop strafficking in fossifl fuel stocks. Photo credit: Matthew Anderson |
More than 150 activists turned out for the first-ever Global Divestment Day to encourage investors large and small to divest themselves of the stocks of companies either producing or consuming fossil fuels.
It was a bitterly cold, windy Friday on Broad Street, near the New York Stock Exchange, but nothing could cool the fervor of either the speakers or their supporters.
The event’s purpose was to challenge investors to divest from fossil fuels, and reinvest in the green infrastructure and clean technologies required to transition to a green economy. A diverse group of speakers addressed the sign-waving and banner-carrying crowd, ranging from a trustee from the Union Theological Seminary (which has divested) to a representative from the Hip Hop Caucus.
The most well-known speaker was Helen Rosenthal, a City Council member, who said that it is wise for the city pension funds to divest stocks tied to fossil fuels, since it would make them more secure. Kevin Munugi, of Global Kids, focused on the need for schools to educate students on climate change.
Olivia Rich, a member of NYU Divest, passionately implored John Sexton, president of the university, to divest its $139 million investment in coal, gas and oil stocks. Olivia said NYU divested during apartheid and the crisis in Sudan, and that today’s students will be the generation most impacted by unabated climate change.
She said,“Universities as institutions committed to facts and learning, have a responsibility to make a powerful public statement that they oppose the destruction of the planet and the threat that the fossil fuel industry poses to the futures of their students.”
Stuart Braman of Fossil Free Indexes stated that the organization has created the Fossil Free Indexes US, or FFIUS, which has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past year. They established the index for two reasons:
• to create investment opportunities using a fossil-free version of the S&P 500, and
• to provide a benchmark for investors and divestors.
The Wall Street rally was one of more than 450 events in 60 countries at which people around the world declared that it’s wrong to wreck the climate—and it’s wrong to profit from wrecking it, according to gofossilfree.org.
Please come to the next divestment event. The movement is growing.
Ken Baer chairs the Chapter’s New York City Group.