The complete text of the overture follows.
DIVESTMENT
FROM FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES
RECOMMENDATION
The General Assembly expresses its profound
concern about the destructive effects of climate change on all God’s creation.
Climate change has had a disproportionate impact on those living in poverty and
in the least developed countries, the elderly and children, and those least
responsible for the emissions of greenhouse gases. General Assembly thus
recognizes the moral mandate for humanity to shift to a sustainable energy plan
in a way that is both just and compassionate. This mandate propels us to action as a denomination: to divest from the
fossil fuel industry even as we reduce our use of fossil fuels and shrink our
carbon footprint.
1. The General Assembly calls upon the Board of
Pensions and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Foundation to:
a.
Immediately
stop any new investment in fossil fuel companies and instruct asset managers in
their work for the denomination to do the same; and
b.
Ensure
that within 5 years none of its directly held or commingled assets includes
holdings of either equities or corporate bonds in fossil fuel companies as
determined by the Carbon Tracker list[1]; and
c.
Incorporate,
into already existing financial reports, regular updates detailing progress
made towards full divestment. These reports will be made available to the
public.
2.
The General Assembly calls upon the Stated
Clerk of the PC(USA) to inform those fossil fuel companies of the passage and
implementation of this resolution.
RATIONALE
Purpose[2]
The
realities of climate change require prophetic and strategic action by people of
faith seeking to be faithful to the everlasting covenant God has made with us,
with every living creature, and with all future generations. If fossil fuel
companies simply fulfill their business model, the earth will become
irreversibly inhospitable to life as we know it. This overture urges the
PC(USA) to divest from fossil fuel companies as part of a worldwide movement.
Over the past three or more decades, many bodies of the Presbyterian Church (USA),
including the General Assembly on numerous occasions, have recognized our moral
obligation to be faithful stewards of God’s creation as well as acknowledging,
in one way or another, that harming creation is a sin. This overture seeks to
inspire and accelerate an unswerving commitment—as the 202nd General
Assembly in 1991 affirmed in the Statement
on Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice—to “insisting on
sustainability––the ongoing capacity of natural and social systems to thrive
together––which requires human beings to practice wise, humble, responsible
stewardship, after the model of servanthood that we have in Jesus.” The 217th General Assembly in 2006
resolved that “the urgency, injustice and seriousness of this issue calls us as
Christians to act NOW and act boldly to lead the way in reducing our energy
usage” and that “we should make a bold witness by aspiring to live carbon
neutral lives.” Eight years later, the urgency has increased dramatically and
the PC(USA) must act boldly by divesting from fossil fuels.
Biblical
and Theological Rationale
The
actions this resolution recommends are rooted in an expression of several of
the most foundational theological and biblical principles of our Presbyterian
identity. In Genesis 9, God makes a covenant not only with Noah, but with all
of humanity; a covenant not only with all of humanity, but with every living
creature; a covenant not only with all creatures alive today, but with all
future generations. It is now clear that the past few generations of humans
have burned so much of the earth’s energy reserves that we are on the verge of
irreversibly rendering the entire earth inhospitable for life as it has existed
for all of recorded history. By any measure, this is a violation of covenant
with future generations and the rest of creation—an action that works against
God’s covenant to never again destroy creation.
In
Matthew 25: 31-46 Jesus calls us to care for the “least of these.” Climate
change is creating a reality where there are more people than ever who are
hungry, thirsty, and homeless. It is thus poised to create the most massive
human rights violation the world has ever seen.
Furthermore it creates more suffering, directly at odds with caring for
the least of these and loving our neighbor in response to Jesus’ commandments
to us in Scripture. If we are called to
love one another, then it is morally and theologically wrong to profit from the
destruction of creation.
Because
we are a covenant people and affirm Jesus’ call in Scripture to love our
neighbors as ourselves, we recognize our obligation as people of faith to take
into account how our decisions and activities affect all of creation now and
into the future.
Background Information
The
leaders of 167 countries, including the United States, have agreed that any
warming of the planet above a 2°C (3.6°F) rise would be unsafe, and we have
already (as of 2012) raised the temperature 0.8°C, causing far more damage, in
the forms of extreme weather events, drought, flood, and sea level rise, than
most scientists had expected. Computer models show that even if we stopped
increasing CO2 levels now, the temperature would continue to rise
another 0.8°C, bringing the planet over three-quarters of the way to the 2°C limit.
Scientists estimate that humans can pour roughly 565 more gigatons of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere and still have some reasonable hope of staying
below 2°C.
The
proven coal, oil, and gas reserves of the fossil-fuel companies—and the
countries (e.g. Venezuela or Kuwait) which act like fossil-fuel
companies—equals about 2,795 gigatons of CO2, or five times the amount we can
release and still maintain a 2°C limit to planetary warming. The sole objective of fossil fuel companies
is to make money for their shareholders by providing energy to the nations of
the world using the resources the companies currently own or have rights to
tap—and if they simply continue to carry out their business plan to fulfill
this objective, they will raise the temperature of the earth far beyond what scientists
have estimated can safely sustain plant, animal, and human life as they have
been for thousands of years.
As
a result of fossil fuel use, the concentration of CO2 in the
atmosphere has now been measured at over 400 parts per million (ppm), 50ppm over
what many scientists say is the safe upper limit, and a 43% increase in the
last 250 years. Almost half (44%) of this 43%
increase has occurred in the past 25 years alone, and the amount of CO2
added to the atmosphere in the past decade is over three times the average
addition per decade in the period 1950-80.
These numbers are the most concrete evidence we have that climate change
is happening at an accelerating rate.
Why Divestment?
This
overture is part of a worldwide movement focused on keeping as much of the
earth’s carbon reserves as possible in the ground. As part of that campaign,
this resolution proposes the PC(USA) divest from fossil fuel companies. The
Carbon Tracker Initiative, a team of London financial analysts and
environmentalists, estimates that proven coal, oil, and gas reserves of the
fossil fuel companies, and the countries that act like fossil fuel companies,
equals about 2,795 gigatons of CO2, or five times the amount we can release to
maintain 2 degrees of warming.
From
1983-1989, General Assembly passed many resolutions[3] committing the corporate
expressions of the PC(USA) to divest from companies doing business with South
Africa as an expression of protest against apartheid in South Africa. Their
action began as a prophetic witness, but once thousands of institutions and
individuals joined together to divest from companies doing business in South
Africa, apartheid came to an end, in part, because of pressure from divestment.
Following
that path, what begins as a prophetic act of divestment from fossil fuel
companies will:
a. Drive public awareness of the massive damage
being done by the fossil fuel industry as it generates huge short-term profits
by moving carbon from the rocks of the earth into Earth’s atmosphere;
b. Build public recognition of the urgent need
to drastically and rapidly reduce humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels, ending
the “business as usual” approach that continues and even accelerates extracting,
marketing and burning fossil fuel;
c. Lead to inspiring an urgent, accelerated and
popular commitment to leave untapped 80% of the known carbon reserves, while
developing renewable energy resources capable of meeting humanity’s needs –
thus making possible that all life as we have known it might continue for
future generations on God’s good earth;
d. Call the denomination to reinvest a portion
of the divested funds in initiatives to reduce the energy use and carbon
footprint of PCUSA churches and in investments in companies primarily focused
on energy efficiency and renewable energy;
e. No longer allow the PC(USA) to profit from
the destruction of creation and the suffering of humanity caused by climate
change from burning fossil fuels.
http://www.carbontracker.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/08/Unburnable-Carbon-Full1.pdf
[2] Portions
of this document were written in collaboration with and permission from the
Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, UCC climate activist and Minister and President,
Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ.
[3] 1983:
The Fourteenth General Assembly adopts as amended the Resolution on Investment
and Corporate Responsibility with Regards to South Africa. 1985: The Fifteenth
General Assembly adopts the Proposal for Action "PCUSA Full Divestment of
All Financial Resources from All Corporations Doing Business with South
Africa."1987: The Sixteenth General Assembly adopts "Expanded
Criteria for Divestment and Advocacy Related to South Africa" as amended.
1989: The Seventeenth General Assembly adopts the Resolution "Boycott of
Royal Dutch/Shell Oil," as amended.
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