13/14th February 2015: Global Divestment Day

Keep It In the Ground are planning an event from 10am on Saturday morning, February 14th, in Cliffe Precinct. We are planning to wear bright colours, especially Fossil Free’s orange, and have information about divestment for individuals and organisations. For example Move Your Money has revealed how much the major banks are propping up the oil, coal and gas industries with our savings.

A growing number of universities, local authorities, religious institutions and other organisations  around the world have already committed to move their pension funds and other  investments away from fossil fuels. These include the British Medical Association, the Society of Friends (the Quakers), the World Council of Churches and the Rockefeller Foundation. The universities of Glasgow and Bedfordshire have also committed to not invest in the fossil fuel industry.  This is the fastest-growing divestment movement ever.

In Brighton, Brighthelm church has sold its shares in oil companies and is now planning a half-day seminar to help institutional investors weigh up the case for withdrawing investment (i.e. divestment) from the fossil fuel industry. Best To Divest? is on March 2nd in Brighton – see here…

Other local events around Global Divestment Day include:

Sussex University students have two events aimed at asking Sussex University to put in place a socially responsible investment policy which doesn’t legitimise the coal, oil and gas industries. For their petition see here…
 
– On the evening of Thursday 12th, 6-8pm, Dr Christopher McGlade is speaking about some of his recent research on unburnable carbon, in Arts A, Lecture Theatre A103, at Sussex University

– On the 13th they will be having a ‘critical mass’ event from around 2pm onwards, with as many bikes, people, banners and whistles as they can get, cycling around campus and then encircling Sussex House (the administrative building) and handing over their petition. This will be followed by a public talk by Caroline Lucas from 3.30-4pm.

And hundreds of groups all over the world from East Asia to Africa to the US and Europe will be active on the day.

Contact Arnold Simanowitz or Ann Link

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