As Global Divestment Movement Grows, Ireland Will Pull Investments From Fossil Fuels

Dublin, Ireland -- Today, Ireland’s government committed to divest its 8 billion-euro national investment fund from all coal, oil, and gas investments, making it the world’s first country to fully divest from fossil fuels.

The announcement comes as the international fossil fuel divestment movement has rapidly gained momentum. Institutions including insurers, churches, universities, and major cities have made recent commitments to divest from fossil fuels, particularly some of the dirtiest and most polluting fuel sources like tar sands and Arctic oil.

Major institutional investors are similarly recognizing the need to abandon fossil fuels. Last month, a group of investors representing $10 trillion in assets called on oil and gas companies to do more to manage their emissions, and another group representing $2.5 trillion urged companies and financial institutions not to invest in oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In response, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Director Kelly Martin released the following statement:

“We applaud the Irish government for taking this critical step forward towards combating global climate change. As the international movement to divest from dirty fuels like coal, oil, and gas gains momentum, it’s clear that massive investments in fossil fuels are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Some of the world’s most significant institutions and investors are recognizing the need to stop pouring money into industries that poison our communities and threaten our climate. It’s time for companies and financial institutions to read the writing on the wall and invest in the clean energy economy of the future, not the dirty fuels of the past.”