Divestment from fossil fuels hits $2.6 trillion
More than 400 institutions and 2,000 people worth $2.6 trn have pledged to get out of fossil fuels
NEW YORK (AFP) - A campaign to abandon fossil fuels to boost the fight against climate change has rapidly picked up steam, with institutions worth $2.6 trillion pledging to divest, a study said Tuesday.
The announcement, months before a high-stakes United Nations climate meeting in Paris, marks a 50-fold increase from a year ago when the Rockefeller family led an announcement of fossil fuel divestment.
The study from consultancy Arabella Advisors found that more than 400 institutions and 2,000 people worth a total of $2.6 trillion have since pledged to get out of fossil fuels.
Some of the most notable have been the University of California System and the Norway Pension Fund, which has drawn particular notice as the Scandinavian country -- like the Rockefellers -- grew wealthy thanks to oil production.
One of the latest, if least surprising, pledges came from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, the environmental charity led by the actor and climate activist.
"Climate change is severely impacting the health of our planet and all of its inhabitants, and we must transition to a clean energy economy that does not rely on fossil fuels, the main driver of this global problem," DiCaprio said in a statement.
Fossil fuels -- especially coal, but to a lesser extent oil and gas -- contribute to emissions of carbon dioxide that have led to the planet s rising temperatures.
Scientists warn that, if left unchecked, global warming will seriously worsen droughts, floods and other disasters.
UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said that the divestment pledges offered a boost to a year-end conference in Paris that aims to draft a new global agreement to tackle the scourge.
"Investing at scale in clean, efficient power offers one of the clearest, no regret choices ever presented to human progress," Figueres said.
The momentum marks an easing of taboos about dumping coal and other dirty energy, which are politically sensitive in many countries due to the concentration of jobs in the industry in low-income communities.
A year ago during a similar week of climate events in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly, the Rockefeller family announced that its $860 million philanthropic group was leaving fossil fuels.
The family grew wealthy thanks to Standard Oil, making John D. Rockefeller the world s richest person a century ago.
