I Am Here Today to Speak in Favor of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Overture

I am here today to speak in favor of the Fossil Fuel Divestment overture.

To begin with let’s define divestment.

Divestment is the opposite of an investment. It simply means selling stocks, bonds or investment funds that are unethical or morally questionable, making divestment a moral and prophetic act.

Divestment is a refusal to invest in or profit from companies engaging in unethical actions. Burning fossil fuels causes climate change, which in turn creates changes in the environment causing suffering for humans and other living things. It is thus morally wrong to make money from the extraction of fossil fuels, and that’s why this overture calls on the PC (USA) to divest from these companies.

Now for the overture

In 2014, 12 presbyteries from across the country brought an overture to the 221stGeneral Assembly, asking PCUSA to divest from fossil fuels. GA decided to send it to MRTI to study for 2 years with a subsequent report in 2016.

The overture you will vote on today is a new one that addresses some of the concerns that were brought up in 2014. The main recommendations in this new overture are as follows:

1. Immediately refrain from any new investments in fossil fuel companies
2. Divest from direct ownership of stocks and any comingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds within 3 years.
3. Seek out and invest in renewable and energy efficiency related securities
4. Retain minimal investment ($2000) in fossil fuel companies to participate in shareholder engagement activities

The fossil fuel companies that this overture refers to are 200 companies that extract fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) from the ground and are listed in the Carbon Underground 200.

Our denomination has approximately $10 billion in investments managed by two entities, the Board of Pensions (BOP) and the Presbyterian Foundation. A relatively small percentage is invested in the 200 fossil fuel companies: a little more than 3% for the Foundation, and a little less than 2% for the BOP. At the end of 2014, BOP staff reported that it had investments in 37 of the companies listed in the Carbon Underground 200. Together, the BOP and the Foundation have $200 million of the $10 billion in total investments,that arein fossil fuel stocks - just 2-3% of both portfolios combined.

The overture does not ask for money to be taken out of these funds, but to redirect it into the rest of the portfolio. Thus the only change in earnings will be the difference between the return on fossil stocks and the return on the rest of the portfolio.Over time, studies show that the performance of fossil free portfolios is as good or better than portfolios that include fossil fuel industry holdings.

Divestment from fossil fuels is a global movement that started just a few years ago. The divestment movement has grown from $13 million in divested funds in 2013 to $50 billion in 2014 to $3.4 trillion in late 2015.

Across this country and internationally many colleges and universities, cities, foundations, and faith groups have voted to divest. U.S. faith denominations that have committed to divestment are the UCC, Unitarian Universalist, Episcopalians and Methodists. Other commitments includethe Church of England, Lutheran World Federation, Union Theological Seminary, and The Rockefeller Foundation. The city of Portland, Oregon, host of this year’s General Assembly, has also divested.

As the divestment campaign grows, there is strength in numbers, which ultimately can bring sufficient negative publicity to hurt the public image of these coal, oil and gas companies. By calling out the fossil fuel companies on their destructive practices we are removing their social license to continue business as usual. This lessens their power to get favorable legislation protecting their industry.

Divesting from fossil fuels will not bankrupt the 200 companies on the Carbon Underground list, and that is not the intention. Divestment is a moral and prophetic statement. It aligns our investments with our values. Divestment has been used as a pressure tactic by the Presbyterian Church against tobacco, liquor, gambling, military-related production, and apartheid in South Africa.

Presbyterians have a long history of involvement in environmental justice. This proposed overture continues that effort.

We need to act with urgency to transition to a world where renewable energy fuels our lives. Four decades of delay have brought us to the point that there are now 5 times more fossil fuel reserves controlled by the fossil fuel companies as can be safely burned without catastrophic effects on the climate. For all of God’s creation, I urge you to recommend a positive vote for this overture.