In Face of Government Apathy, Activists Launch Wave of Global Divestment Actions

Intensifying the global demand for nations and institutions to move away from fossil fuels, campaigners on Friday are launching ten days of direct actions calling for divestment from the companies most responsible for the climate crisis.

From New Zealand to South Africa to Ecuador and beyond, thousands are expected to take part in the Global Divestment Mobilization, which will include actions in 39 countries across six continents.

For instance, rallies targeting Commbank in Brisbane and Canberra, Australia on Friday called on the banking giant to “stop funding dirty coal” and divest from the Adani mine.

Students from South Africa’s Stellenbosch University are meanwhile delivering an open letter to the administration calling for divestment as well as a commitment to addressing the crisis of climate change. “Africa is the continent that climate change is predicted to hit the hardest, and its impoverished and poor will be disproportionately affected,” read a statement by the student activist group. “Fossil Free Stellenbosch would like to convey a sense of how Stellenbosch can fulfill its mandate to be inclusive, innovative, and future focused, by becoming the first university on the African continent to commit to divest its endowment of fossil fuel stock.”

Meanwhile, activists in Jakarta, Indonesia are holding a divestment event that will bring together people from diverse backgrounds, including students, professionals, and people from communities already impacted by global warming, to discuss ideas to bring about a “cleaner energy future.”

And in Europe, the Green Party on Friday launched a new chapter of its #DivestEurope campaign, which will focus each month on one of the continent’s major polluters to highlight “why it is necessary to withdraw capital” from these companies.

“Climate change is not a future danger, it is happening: 16 of the 17 hottest years in history were recorded after 2000, and 2016 was the hottest year on record, marking a new high for the third year in a row,” said European Green Party co-chairs Reinhard Bütikofer and Monica Frassoni.

“And yet,” they continue, “climate change is currently an item low on the European and international agenda—which is short-sighted and disastrous. Many of the world’s conflicts have direct relations to climate change consequences—and many more will, if climate change is not limited. The future is fossil free, or there is no future.”