In a move that is likely to have massive (positive) ramifications, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, built with profits from their great-grandfather’s Standard Oil Co., is selling investments in the fossil fuel industry in a move to put pressure companies that are adding to climate change. They are, US newspapers claim, getting out of “Big Oil” the means by which they earned their fortunes.

Rockefellers Abandon Oil, Gas and Coal in Favour of Cleaner Energy
David Rockefeller

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund have joined a coalition of individuals and institutions, with over $50 billion in total assets, pledging to divest from fossil fuels over five years and using a variety of approaches.  The fund will end all investments in coal and tar sands by the end of the year for starters.This international movement championing the movement away from fossil fuels will be a body blow to some of the world’s greatest polluters. Some see the irony in that the Rockefeller fortune was built on oil- but that was then, this is now!

A Standard Oil refinery in the US in the 1930s
A Standard Oil refinery in the US in the 1930s

John D Rockefeller spoke on his 93rd birthday

“These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life depressions have come and gone, prosperity has always returned and will again.”

Valerie Rockefeller Wayne, the chair of the fund, said that it reflected the Fund’s commitment to sustainability:

“There’s an imperative behind this on many fronts to move into alternative investments, so we have approached it very carefully. In 2010 our board endorsed a commitment of up to 10 percent of our now $860 million endowment towards alternative investments — what we call impact investing or sustainable investing — that would be more aligned with our grant making. Over half of the money that we do give out as a non for profit is towards sustainable development, so it just made sense to have our endowment supporting the work that we’re doing through our grantees and with our grantees in sustainable development.”

Sceptics say that it’s not all philanthropic. Oil is now at or has now passed its peak and prices for obtaining and processing oil, particularly in the US, will just get higher and higher and make profitability more challenging. But while we won’t see the collapse of fossil fuel pollution overnight, this move marks a trend towards  investment in renewables such as wind and solar power, which will start to bring down costs and make renewables not just a good moral choice for the planet, but a profitable one too.

The occasion of the Rockefellers’ announcement is also perfectly timed: More than 120 heads of state and governments are attending a major climate summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The host, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon no less, says he needs all hands on deck on what he’s described as one of the defining issues of our time.

Ban Ki Moon UN Secretary General
Ban Ki Moon UN Secretary General

According to the Divest-Invest coalition, more than 650 individuals and 180 institutions have pledged to divest from fossil fuels. This morning, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer announced he’ll divest, as well

The well known and respected South African cleric Desmond Tutu, who helped spur calls for divestment that led to the end of apartheid in his home nation in the 1980s, today endorsed the divestment drive. He said:

“Climate change has become the the human rights challenge of our time. We can no longer continue feeding our addiction to fossil fuels as if there is no tomorrow, for there will be no tomorrow.”

Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu

Let’s hope there will be a snowball effect following the Rockefellers’ statement and the conference, and we will now move  ore quickly to abandon fossil fuel use and embrace wind power, solar power and other renewable energy sources.

 

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