Meeting for Sufferings: Call for fossil fuel disinvestment
Meeting for Sufferings has encouraged Britain Yearly Meeting trustees to give up fossil fuel investments
Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) has encouraged Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees to give up BYM’s investment in fossil fuels. The recommendation reflected a groundswell of conviction that investment in fossil fuel extraction is incompatible with the 2011 Quaker commitment to become a low-carbon community.
On 18 October BYM trustees will meet to make the final decision. While some faith bodies have adopted carbon-reduction targets, Quakers would be among the first to divest from fossil fuel extraction.
MfS heard that approximately four per cent of BYM’s investment portfolio is in companies that are involved in the extraction of fossil fuels. Its total investment portfolio is currently valued at approximately £20 million.
The shares are held in two companies: BG Group (2.94 per cent of portfolio) and Statoil (1.23 per cent). Both are rated ‘best in sector’ for their environmental record. Statoil is deemed to be a sector leader in carbon capture. BG Group mainly produces gas. Both companies are considered to be open to stakeholder engagement, although there is little scope to change their focus on fossil fuels.
Several Friends suggested that BYM could invest in companies that provide renewable energy or housing insulation.
One Friend urged caution: ‘it’s very important that we’re careful on this and that we engage’. Friends acknowledged our dependency on fossil fuels and the complexity of ethical investment, describing it as ‘a minefield’ and ‘almost a contradiction in terms’.
Friends suggested that solutions should seek to minimise harm. Another suggested ‘not to look at this as an investment to make money but an investment in the Canterbury Commitment’. Several Friends supported this view: ‘If we have a vision of the future should we perhaps not be feeding it with our investments?’; ‘it seems ridiculous, contrary to our beliefs’; ‘this is a bit of a no-brainer’.
Concern was raised that inaction may compromise Quaker Peace & Social Witness’s (QPSW) involvement in a campaign calling for church disinvestment from companies engaged in fossil fuel extraction.
The campaign is due to be launched by Operation Noah, an ecumenical Christian organisation of which QPSW is a member. One Friend noted that as climate change escalates ‘there will be floods and famines on an unprecedented scale… there is already far more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than is safe’.
When the minute was before the Meeting, Friends urged the clerk to strengthen the wording to reflect the strong feeling of the meeting in favour of disinvestment.
Friends were supportive of trustees’ plan to review the overall policy on investments in 2014. This may open the door to investing in more potentially risky but innovative companies. Local Meetings were encouraged to engage with the issues through National Ethical Investment Week, 13 to 19 October.
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