Civic Forum on Climate Change and Divestment
Sunday, Nov 14, 2021 1:00 PM-3:30 PM
Overview
Climate change is arguably the greatest challenge of our time, and one that will disproportionately affect young people.
Over the past two weeks, leaders from around the world have been gathering in Scotland for the Conference of Partners (COP26), an international conference to ensure we collectively meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. This particular conference is critical because it’s still possible to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of cutting global emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050…but we have to act NOW.
There’s some good news: A little less than a week before the start of the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, activists announced that the fossil fuel divestment campaign has reached new heights. Endowments, portfolios, and pension funds worth just shy of $40 trillion have now committed to full or partial abstinence from coal, gas and oil stocks. For comparison’s sake, that’s larger than the gross domestic product of the United States and China combined.
And there’s some way less good news: COP26 comes at a time when the US’ own commitment to climate action is tenuous. Biden had hoped to showcase legislation designed to fulfill a U.S. pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50-52% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, seeking to provide an example that would encourage other nations to take bold, quick action to protect the Earth. Unfortunately, Congress was not able to reach an agreement before the Conference.
The battle to wind down the fossil fuel industry proceeds on two tracks: the political and the financial. Those tracks cross regularly — the influence of money in politics is clear on energy legislation — and when the biggest opponents of climate action are weakened, everything gets easier. Divestment has helped rub much of the shine off what was once the planet’s dominant industry. If money talks, $40 trillion makes a lot of noise.
Ten years ago, the divestment movement began because young people recognized that the fossil fuel industry--and its political and economic power--represented the primary obstacle to a just and sustainable future. Today, the industry's inability to change is clearer than it's ever been—as is the complicity of institutions who remain invested in it—but its power is in rapid decline. At a moment when we can't afford any more delay in achieving a just transition off fossil fuels, it's also clear that it's up to everyday community members and grassroots activists to keep dismantling the fossil fuel industry's reign, especially by turning up the heat (so to speak…) on every institution and official who's sided with the industry.
High school and college students are leading the way, from icons like Greta Thunberg to masses of “regular teens” who express profound concerns in polls. Two months ago, in September 2021, after decades of petitioning, protesting, and politicking met with obfuscation and seeming intransigence from the university, authorities at Harvard University--the richest and arguably most prestigious university in the world--made a surprising announcement that it would divest from fossil fuels. This was a huge triumph--and clearly demonstrates what sustained student pressure can do. What made Harvard finally take action after years of claiming that divestment was a risk that could imperil the endowment--and what are the implications for activism more broadly?
We’ll have the opportunity to discuss this in depth with November Forum Speaker Ilana Cohen, climate journalist, fossil fuel divestment activist, and Harvard College student studying philosophy and social studies with a focus on the ethics of climate and environmental policymaking and the intersection of social justice and law. Ilana helped relaunch the Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard campaign when she started at Harvard in fall 2019 and has worked with other students to bring about this historic divestment from fossil fuel.
We’ll focus on the question, “what do you do when there's a powerful industry blocking major climate legislation and preventing the necessary steps to tackling climate change and achieving a just transition on a science-aligned timeline?”
We’ll dive into the history and strategy of the divestment movement, the current state of the movement, and organizing practices, as well as share different examples/contexts where fossil fuel money/influence is relevant in our daily lives (like oil-backed Joe Manchin killing key climate provisions in the current budget bill.)
We’ll get an update on how things have been going at COP26-- “fun facts” include that the fossil fuel industry has the largest delegation at the summit, that the cost of capital has spiked for fossil fuel producers, and that countries’ climate pledges are built on flawed data.
And we’ll engage in deliberation around how to engage with the biggest existential threat of our/all time.
We look forward to this vital session together!
Background Resources
How Students Pressured Harvard to Divest From Fossil Fuels– and Won by Ilana Cohen (The Nation, Sept 14, 2021)
The Teenagers at the End of the World by Brooke Jarvis (New York Times, July 21, 2020)
Most American teens are frightened by climate change, poll finds, and about 1 in 4 are taking action by Sarah Kaplan and Emily Gushin (Washington Post, Sept 16, 2019)
45% of Americans Don’t Believe Humans Cause Climate Change, VICE News/Guardian Poll Shows (Vice News, Oct 26, 2021)
How should we talk about what’s happening to our planet? by Dan Zak (Washington Post, August 27, 2019)
The Disarming Case To Act Right Now on Climate Change (TEDTalk by Greta Thunberg, November 2018)
How a Single Senator Derailed Biden’s Climate Plan (NYTimes The Daily podcast, Oct 21, 2021)
This Movement Is Taking Money Away From Fossil Fuels, and It’s Working by Bill McKibben (New York Times, Oct 26, 2021)
Fossil fuel divestment will increase carbon emissions, not lower them – here’s why by Stephan Andreason (The Conversation, Nov 25, 2019)
From Apartheid to the Climate Crisis: The Limits of Shareholder Engagement by Connor Chung and Caleb Schwartz (Impakter, Sept 11, 2020)
What Climate Change Knew About Big Oil, In Its Own Words by Benjamin Franta(The Conversation, Oct 28, 2021) AND/OR “Inside Exxon’s playbook: How America’s biggest oil company continues to oppose action on climate change” by Larry Carter (Unearthed, June 30, 2021) + our Speaker Elana’s published Letter to the Editor of Newsweek about this
If 100 companies are responsible for 70% of emissions, what can you do? By Kristin Touissant (Forbes, Oct 13, 2021)
Climate Change Ate My Homework: Politicians Blame Climate Change for Bureaucratic Failures by Jonathan Lesser (Real Clear Energy, Sept 22, 2021)
How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic: Responses to common arguments (Grist, April 15, 2021)
Private Equity Funds, Sensing Profit in Tumult, Are Propping Up Oil by Hiroko Tabuchi (New York Times, Oct 13, 2021)
Bill Gates Shows How Hard It Can Be to Divest From Fossil Fuel by Akshat Rathi (Bloomberg, Feb 14, 2021)
The Little Hedge Fund Taking Down Big Oil, By Jessica Camille Aguirre (New York Times, June 23, 2021)
The Case for Fossil Fuel Engagement by David Carlin (Financial Times, March 3, 2021)
Is democracy getting in the way of saving the planet? by Kate Aronoff (The Guardian, Aug 25, 2021)
9 questions about the Civilian Climate Corps, answered by Tik Root (Washington Post, Sept 16, 2021)
Katherine Hayhoe: The Future Is Still In our Hands (On Being Podcast, Oct 21, 2021)
Five Climate Action Podcasts You Should Be Listening To (United Nations Climate Change, July 9, 2021)