Tuesday, September 22, 2015
The World Has Pledged To Divest $2.6 Trillion From Fossil Fuels
The amount of money the world has pledged to divest from fossil fuels now exceeds $2.6 trillion, a group of policymakers, philanthropists and activists announced Tuesday. The figure is 50 times higher than the $52 billion that had been divested exactly one year ago.
The news was announced at a press conference in New York, hosted by groups including the United Nations, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and environmental and faith leaders. The hosts said the $2.6 trillion figure was calculated by Arabella Advisors, a private consulting company that works with philanthropic groups.
In recent years, schools, private foundations, pension funds and individuals have taken up the call to divest, which refers to removing investments from industries such as oil, natural gas and coal. Harvard University has resisted pressure from students and faculty to divest the world’s largest university endowment, totaling some $32 billion....