https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/04/10-2
Published on Thursday, April 10, 2014 by Common Dreams
Tutu: Climate Crisis Demands 'Anti-Apartheid-Style Boycott' of Fossil
Fuel Industry
Nobel laureate says 'people of conscience' must break ties with oil and
gas companies that are destroying planet's future
- Jon Queally, staff writer
Archbishop of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu
is saying their is no longer any excuse for not doing everything humanly
possible to fight climate change and called on Thursday for an
international "anti-apartheid-style boycott" against the fossil fuel
industry.
In a striking essay and call to action in the Guardian newspaper, Tutu
writes: "People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations
financing the injustice of climate change."
As examples, Tutu said people can and should boycott events, sports
teams and media outlets sponsored by oil and gas companies. He also
touted divestment by municipalities and universities have broken ties
with the industry and called for public health warnings against products
associated with the carbon-reliant economy.
"We cannot necessarily bankrupt the fossil fuel industry," said Tutu.
"But we can take steps to reduce its political clout, and hold those who
rake in the profits accountable for cleaning up the mess."
The Guardian's environment correspondent Damian Carrington reports:
The Archbishop's intervention, timed ahead of Sunday's UN report,
is the strongest yet in a rapidly growing global campaign against oil,
gas and coal companies that is uniting campaigners against global
warming with major financial institutions seeking to avoid a
trillion-dollar crash in fossil fuel stocks. A leaked draft of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report states investment in
fossil fuels must start falling by tens of billions a year to avoid
dangerous levels of warming.
The good news, according to Tutu, is that a divestment campaign is
already underway, having started 18 months ago in the US. Since then, it
has grown even faster than those that targeted apartheid, tobacco and
arms manufacturers, according to research from the University of Oxford.
The research showed past divestment campaigns succeeded by
stigmatising their targets – which Tutu calls "moral pressure" – as well
as exerting financial pressure.
"It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future,"
concluded Tutu in his missive to the world. "To serve as custodians of
creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all
the urgency this dire situation demands."
--
Darryl McMahon
It's your planet. If you won't look after it, who will?
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