Divest & Defund
Invest & Envision
Divest from destruction. Invest in solutions.
Banks are at the root of the Climate Emergency. Since the first Paris Climate accord, 22 Mega Banks have put 2.7 Trillion dollars in the fossil fuel industry. As youth, we are inheriting a world where banks and corporations are putting profit over people. Now is the time to take the power back. Pledge below to be part of the solution by refusing to bank with Chase Bank, the largest financier of the fossil fuel industry. Make the choice to instead bank with institutions who are community driven, prioritizing people and the planet.
$2.7 Trillion
Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in late 2015, 35 banks poured $2.7 trillion into fossil fuels.
Youth Divestment Webinar
Watch this webinar to learn from youth across the country about how you can use your voice and exercise the power of your own dollar to impact change by investing your money and time into equitable and sustainable industries and ways of life.
Divest Challenge
We know that climate change is one of the greatest issues of our time, which is why it is important to take action towards climate justice to ensure a just, equitable, and livable planet for future generations.
We must begin by dismantling the root causes of the climate crisis— the systems of oppression that have led to widespread social injustice and ecological catastrophe. Racism, sexism, colonialism, and classism are only a few of the corrupt ideologies that have acted as a cancer within our institutional power structures for centuries.
TAKE THE #DIVESTCHALLENGE!
The #DivestChallenge engages folks around the globe to defund parts of an oppressive and destructive system and invest in frontline solutions. We are asking our partners and allies to post about anything they feel they want to divest from, whether that is an institution or harmful practice, and what they want to invest in, i.e. local businesses or regenerative practices for example.
HOW IT WORKS
1. Read the blog from our Divestment Team
2. Pledge to never fund fossil fuels
3. Write what you’re divesting from/investing in and take a photo of yourself with it.
4. Tag @earthguardians @youthvsapocalypse and use these hashtags#DivestChallenge
5. Reach out to your friends and family to do the same!
Download our toolkit below!
How to Talk to Adults about Divestment
Why is fossil fuel divestment so important?
The financial sector is funding, insuring, and investing in the climate crisis. If we are going to address climate change with the aggression and urgency it deserves, we must divest from the companies that are causing it.
We must employ every method we have to fight climate change and divestment is a vital one. We must hit fossil fuel companies at their core, to loosen their hold on the government and financial market.
Fossil fuel companies and those that are invested in them are complicit in mass deforestation, pollution and the exploitation of Indigenous communities.
The fossil fuel industry’s business model requires that they emit six times more carbon into the atmosphere than humanity and the planet can handle.
The wave of the future will be away from fossil fuels. In the last decade profits have been on a continuous decline. It is no longer financially lucrative to invest in the fossil fuel industry. In other words, they are not garnering economic returns, due to the growing transition towards renewables. This is referred to as a stranded asset.
When companies see large institutions moving their money from fossil fuels, they are more likely to question the viability of the fossil fuel industries business model.
Divestment from harmful industries builds momentum for moving money into local community development, clean energy projects, and sustainable companies.
Click here to download the full PDF!
What Covid 19 has to teach us about the Climate Crisis
American Youth Strike Back at Big Banks Funding Climate Crisis
During this era of coronavirus lockdown, youth leaders across the country continue to innovate their climate strike tactics against Wall Street banks. Following the 50th Anniversary Earth Day Live three day livestream event last week, youth climate advocates are launching a pledge called Not My Dirty Money.
How Divestment Helps Black Communities
In order to have climate justice we must stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We know that climate change is one of the greatest issues of our time, which is why it is important to take action towards climate justice to ensure a just, equitable and livable planet for future generations.
What is Divestment?
This animation informs us on divesting from fossil fuels with drawings and narration by youth from the Bay Area Earth Guardians Crew and Youth vs Apocalypse. Divestment is when a person or organization takes money OUT of certain types of banks, companies and funds. Divestment can take power away from industries that are causing really big harm. Divestment frees up money to be INVESTED in solutions, like green jobs.
FAQs
What is divestment?
Divestment is the opposite of an investment. It is when a person or organization gets rid of/sells off stocks, bonds, or investment funds that are unethical or morally harmful. When you invest, you generally buy stocks, bonds, or other investments that are meant to generate financial returns. It is not just individuals who invest in stocks and bonds; universities, colleges, religious organizations, retirement funds, pension funds, and other institutions invest as well to maintain a large amount of funding while also continuing to gain profit from the investment itself. Fossil fuel investments are a risk for both investors and the planet, so we’re calling on individuals and institutions to divest from these companies.
Which companies should I divest from?
There are a number of resources you can utilize on this site to learn more about which banks and companies are investing in the fossil fuel industry. Some of the heavy hitters are Chase Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and Black Rock Mutual Funds. That being said do your research, because there are many many more. Before you open a bank account look at the bank’s record in regards to investing in the industry. Also, if you are a student, investigate if your college, university, or teachers’ pension funds are invested in the fossil fuel industry. If so, learn more about ways in which you can push for divestment like students successfully are doing worldwide.
Where should I move my money?
Profit-seeking Wall Street banks are not the only option out there - although they’d lead you to believe that. There are values-aligned banking alternatives that are rooted in the well-being of their local communities. You can open an account with Community Development Credit Unions, as well as many other progressive credit unions, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and community banks that have a deep history of being built by and for BIPOC communities to reclaim the agency and control of their capital within a system of capitalism that has profited from the extraction of their labor and lives. Check out New Economy Coalition’s guide to learn more and locate values-aligned banking alternatives near you.
Why should I divest?
Fossil fuel companies who are driving us closer to climate chaos every minute, are also using their extreme wealth and power to block all serious attempts made by the public to stop climate change. By educating and convincing institutions and individuals to divest, de-sponsor, and defund the fossil fuel industry, we can turn the tide of public opinion against them. At the same time, we can break the hold they have on our economy and our governments while making way for a just transition to renewable energy.
Which companies should I invest in?
Here are a couple of great resources to get you, your family, your schools, places of worship, etc. reinvested in a healthy, equitable, and regenerative future for yourself, your family, your community and the planet. DivestInvest, Green America, Fossil Free Funds, New Economy Coalition - Move Your Money, Seed Commons
If my money is in a credit union how can I get to it when I travel?
A lot of banking is now online, but you can discuss the specifics with your individual bank - some may even be a part of a credit union network that expands your ATM options while traveling.
As would any bank, credit unions offer a debit or ATM card that can be used across the country and internationally with a heads up. What’s great about banking with a local credit union is that you can easily give them a call and talk to people who are accountable to your community and genuinely interested in supporting you in answering these questions, rather than having to talk to an automated phone line.
If you are in need of cash and are limited on ATM options in your day-to-day life, you can opt into “cash back” options while shopping to maintain cash funds. This is a small step outside of the status quo, but it is just a small inconvenience that can go a long way when you are banking with a locally-rooted bank, and not Wall Street.
What communities are impacted the most?
Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities suffer from the toxic effects of the fossil fuel industry at extremely higher rates than any other population in the US. Many BIPOC communities live near industrial fossil fuel processing facilities, so the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the soil they grow their food in are often poisoned by the toxic by-products of fossil fuel production. This directly causes adverse health problems such as asthma, heart disease, and cancers, resulting in younger mortality rates than other populations in the country.
How else can I get involved?
Call, write a letter, or email a bank with investments in fossil fuels telling them why they should divest. Join a local organization pushing for universities, banks, schools, etc. to divest in your community. Participate in a direct action, such as a strike, or sit in to show them that you mean business. Check out more resources here!
How can banks reinvest to make a positive impact?
If you open an account with a credit union or public bank, there are often opportunities for account holders to express interests and needs on a monthly or quarterly basis. Since these banking institutions are oriented towards the well-being of the community that they serve, rather than racking up profit, your voice is more likely to be heard in naming places that you wish to see reinvestment happen or an increase in loan options.
For example, instead of financing fossil fuel pipelines, locally-rooted banks can invest in public renewable energy projects, community economic development, and programs to aid frontline climate communities. You can even open a discussion with your bank about investing in community-controlled loan funds that are being developed across the country by and for Black, Indigenous, poor, and communities of color that bring capital directly into the hands of communities from whom it was stolen from.
Companies like Exxonmobil, BP and Shell have billions of dollars in assets, how does one company divesting make an impact?
Popular Resources
Growing a Green Economy for People and the Planet
Wondering where to bank once you leave your megabank? Check out this link to find a value and planet driven bank in your area!
Join the largest Divestment Coalition in history
Stop the Money Pipeline is a Coalition of 90+ Organisations that have come together utilizing digital and direct actions to demand that banks, asset managers, insurance companies and institutional investors stop funding, insuring and investing in climate destruction. If we stop the flow of money we stop the Flow of oil.
Where should I put my Money?
If you want to move your money from banks like Chase, this will help.
Mazaska Talks
A complete guide as to how to divest and where to reinvest, along with educational resources and direct actions you can take to divest yourself, your community and the globe. Across the country and the world, young people are rising up, striking, and demanding that politicians and corporations prioritize our futures over the bottom line.
“The language of capitalism, the language of the USD paper currency is really toxic. Capitalism was built on genocide and slavery and I think those things are always really present and that is the business of those banks…”
— Ruth Breech