Fossil fuel divestment gathering pace in Australia, around the world.

Fossil fuel divestment is gathering pace around Australia and the world. More and more individuals and organisations are pulling their investment assets out of companies involved with the exploration, extraction, production or financing of fossil fuels.

The underlying reason is the brutal maths of climate change: to keep global warming within 2℃ of pre-industrial levels – as both scientists and the Paris climate agreement say we must – around 80% of declared fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground.

So far, 580 institutions, controlling assets worth about US$3.4 trillion, have divested from fossil fuels. The top four types of divest institutions are faith-based groups, foundations, governments and educational institutions. The pattern in Australia is largely the same.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a Lecturer in International Relations and Environmental Policy at the Australian National University, Luke Kemp -  “The fossil fuel divestment game is getting bigger, thanks to the smaller players.”