Fossil fuel divestment

Fossil fuel divestment or fossil fuel divestment and investment in climate solutions is an attempt to reduce climate change by exerting social, political, and economic pressure for the institutional divestment of assets including stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments connected to companies involved in extracting fossil fuels.^[2]

Fossil fuel divestment campaigns emerged on college and university campuses in the United States in 2011 with students urging their administrations to turn endowment investments in the fossil fuel industry into investments in clean energy and communities most impacted by climate change.^[3] In 2012, Unity College in Maine became the first institution of higher learning to divest^[4] its endowment from fossil fuels.

By 2015, fossil fuel divestment was reportedly the fastest growing divestment movement in history.^[5] As of July 2023, more than 1593 institutions with assets totalling more than $40.5 trillion in assets worldwide had begun or committed some form of divestment of fossil fuels.^[6]

^ "Divestment Commitments". Gofossilfree.org. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
^ Gulliver, Robyn (10 October 2022). "Australian Campaign Case Study : Divestment Campaign 2013 - 2021". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
^ Gibson, Dylan; Duram, Leslie (2020). "Shifting Discourse on Climate and Sustainability: Key Characteristics of the Higher Education Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement". Sustainability. 12 (23): 10069. doi:10.3390/su122310069.
^ "Divestment from Fossil Fuels". Unity College. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "The database of fossil fuel divestment commitments made by institutions worldwide". Global Fossil Fuel Divestment Database managed by Stand.earth. 26 July 2023.

[Commitments-1] "Divestment Commitments". Gofossilfree.org. Retrieved 11 April 2020.

[2] Gulliver, Robyn (10 October 2022). "Australian Campaign Case Study : Divestment Campaign 2013 - 2021". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 31 March 2024.

[Shifting_Discourse_on_Climate_and_Sustainability:_Key_Characteristics_of_the_Higher_Education_Fossil_Fuel_Divestment_Movement-3] Gibson, Dylan; Duram, Leslie (2020). "Shifting Discourse on Climate and Sustainability: Key Characteristics of the Higher Education Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement". Sustainability. 12 (23): 10069. doi:10.3390/su122310069.

[4] "Divestment from Fossil Fuels". Unity College. Retrieved 29 December 2021.

[Guardian2015-5] Cite error: The named reference Guardian2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[divestmentdatabase.org-6] "The database of fossil fuel divestment commitments made by institutions worldwide". Global Fossil Fuel Divestment Database managed by Stand.earth. 26 July 2023.

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