More and more cities refuse to invest in dirty fuels

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More and more cities refuse to invest in dirty fuels

By Melanie Mattauch

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23 US cities have stopped investment in fossil fuels. 350.org under a Creative Commons Licence

Dunedin City Council has become the first council in New Zealand to stop fossil fuel investments. This is to show the bad effects of fossil fuel on climate change.

The Council voted on Tuesday to take out NZ $2 million (US$173 million) from investments in fossil fuel and stop NZ$75 million (US$650 million) future investments in fossil fuels. Dunedin City joined 23 US cities and the Dutch town of Boxtel in not investing in fossil fuels, including oil, gas and coal, for ethical and climate change reasons.

These cities are part of a movement which is growing quickly. It includes global investors, fund managers, religious institutions, and academic institutions that are not investing in fossil fuels. They are helped by organisations which campaign against climate change.

Bill McKibben is an author who helped to start www.350.org. He said it’s so good that Dunedin did this on the day that scientists showed very clearly the dangers in the Antarctic. He said it’s the most charming city in New Zealand and it’s the most positive!

The Dunedin City Council will not invest in: arms, tobacco, fossil fuel, gambling, and pornography.

Last week, Stanford University in California said it plans to stop its US$18 billion investments in coal. Two weeks before, the world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, talked about its plans not to invest in fossil fuels. And last September, five Anglican Dioceses in New Zealand voted not to invest.

The movement started in the US in the autumn of 2012. Now there are over 500 universities, cities, states, and religious institutions in the US, Australia, Canada, and Europe, with many institutions who want to stop investment in fossil fuel. In Europe, there are campaigns in Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and Germany.

Heads of state will meet later this year in New York for the Ban Ki Moon Climate Summit. The movement is beginning to be very strong and campaigners hope it will start very important global climate action.

NOW READ THE ORIGINAL:

http://newint.org/blog/2014/05/15/fossil-fuels-divest/

(This article has been simplified so the words, text structure and quotes may have been changed).