Take action today to divest funding from fossil fuels
Would you like to join people across the UK for a special day of action to get creative and make a positive difference in the face of the climate crisis?
If the answer is yes, we would love to hear from you.
On Friday March 24, Time for Change Argyll and Bute is joining the biggest ever divestment day of action when we’ll be asking our councils to stop investing in fossil fuel companies that are harming people and the planet and instead to invest in our future.
It has never been more urgent for us to take action. Here in the UK, we’re seeing soaring energy prices leading to a cost of living crisis.
And both our energy and our financial systems are contributing to making the global climate emergency worse.
Just in the past few months, we’ve seen catastrophic flooding in Pakistan and Brazil, drought in the Horn of Africa and record temperatures around the world, including 40 degrees for the first time here in the UK last summer.
Both the climate crisis and the spiralling cost of living are symptoms of an unjust energy system founded on fossil fuels.
The coal, oil and gas companies that are driving this crisis are making impressive sounding promises to be ‘net zero by 2050’ whilst spending the vast majority of their budgets on expanding their core business – pushing ahead with new fossil fuel projects.
Companies like BP, Shell and Exxon knew about the climate-destroying effects of fossil fuels decades ago but they hid their research and they’re still pouring millions of pounds into lobbying governments against climate action so they can safeguard their record-breaking profits.
This is leading to the profound injustice that young people and communities around the world who have done the least to causing the climate emergency are suffering the most.
Scottish councils are investing around £1.2 billion in these companies through their pension funds.
Here in Argyll, the council is a member of the Strathclyde Pension Fund which is investing an estimated £836 million in some of the world’s biggest polluters, including BP, Shell and Equinor.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of our pension funds contributing to climate change, they can be a key part of the solution.
By divesting from fossil fuels and investing in warmer homes, social housing and renewable energy, Scottish councils can help to protect pensions and the planet whilst ensuring that people are less vulnerable to rising energy prices.
If you would like to be part of this exciting divestment movement, there has never been a better time to get involved.
Thanks to the efforts of campaigners, over 1,550 organisations have already begun divesting $40.51 trillion from fossil fuels, including the Welsh Parliament, 101 UK Universities, 5 local councils, the Church of Scotland and the country of Ireland.
Councillors in Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire have also passed motions calling on the Strathclyde Pension Fund to stop gambling millions on fossil fuels and instead invest now in the transition to a liveable future for us all.
In the lead up to the day of action on March 24, Time for Change is organising as many people as possible to send postcards to their local councillors asking them to push for divestment from fossil fuels.
You can get involved by heading to our website at https://timeforchangeargyllandbute.org/time-to-divest/ and printing our postcard design.
Everything you’ll need is on the website: suggestions for what to say, addresses of your local councillors, and information about why divestment is so important.
Before you send your postcard, take a photo of yourself with the postcard and send it to info@timeforchangeargyllandbute.org.
We’ll collate all the images and use them to show just how many people in Argyll care about tackling the climate crisis at its roots and investing in a clean energy future for everyone.
March 2023