OSLO (Reuters) – Forty Roman Catholic groups said on Tuesday they were avoiding fossil fuel investment and urged others to follow suit.
The coalition was the largest number of Catholic institutions, in countries including Australia, South Africa, Britain and the United States, to join together to switch to greener energy, said the Global Catholic Climate Movement.
Attendees included the Sacro Convento of Assisi and other Catholic institutions in the Italian city, birthplace of St. Francis, who inspired Pope Francis.
The “joint divestment of fossil fuels is based both on their shared value of protecting the environment and on the financial wisdom of preparing for a carbon-neutral economy,” the Global Catholic Climate Movement said.
He did not estimate the value of their fossil fuel holdings. Several, contacted by Reuters, said they had little or none to sell and were primarily interested in excluding future investment and urging others to divest.
The Municipality of Assisi has joined forces with 40.
“A lot of people say Assisi is the city on the mountain – everyone can see the choices, political and environmental, that Assisi is making,” Mayor Stefania Proietti told Reuters.
She said the city is investing in cleaner energy, like rooftop solar panels and electric vehicles.
TOMB LIGHTS
The Sacro Convento said it wants to “end the era of fossil fuels in the global economy”. She had installed low-energy lighting near the tomb of Saint Francis.
The Pope pays tribute to Saint Francis, known for his poverty and his love of nature, in a 2015 encyclical urging to stop global warming to protect the planet.
The 40 also include the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town, Bank fur Kirche und Caritas eG of Germany, Oikocredit Belgium, the Australian Jesuit Province, Newman University in England and the American Center for Action and Contemplation.
Some investors, such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and universities, have sold fossil fuel stocks, especially since the Paris climate accord of 195 countries in 2015 set a goal to eliminate gradually the use of fossil fuels during this century.
US President Donald Trump, however, said in June that he planned to withdraw from the pact and promote jobs in the US fossil fuel industry.
Mainstream scientists claim that fossil fuels contribute to heat waves, floods, droughts and rising seas.
The Catholic Church claims 1.2 billion members.
Ben Caldecott, founding director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Program at the University of Oxford, said: “Groups with moral authority, religious groups being a good example, are likely to have an impact disproportionate in terms of the growing stigma” of investing in fossil fuels.
The International Energy Agency predicts that fossil fuels will account for more than half of global energy demand in 2040, even with a significant green shift. Fossil fuel companies like Exxon Mobil or Royal Dutch Shell say they limit emissions.
“Today’s announcement is yet another sign that we are on track to fulfill our collective mission,” said Christiana Figueres, UN climate chief at the time of the Paris Agreement. “We still have a long way to go, however.”
