Church of England to sell fossil fuel investments
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Loading... - CRISTIAN CASTILLO
- 01 May 2020
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The Church of England is adopting a new climate change policy and will cut its investments in fossil fuel companies.
It will sell investments worth £12m in firms where more than 10% of revenue comes from extracting thermal coal or the production of oil from tar sands.
The Church said it had a "moral responsibility" to act on environmental issues to protect the poor, who were the most vulnerable to climate change.
The Church manages three investment funds worth about £8bn.
"Climate change is already a reality," said Rev Canon Professor Richard Burridge, deputy chair of the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG).
"The Church has a moral responsibility to speak and act on both environmental stewardship and justice for the world's poor who are most vulnerable to climate change," he said.
'Belief and practice'
"This responsibility encompasses not only the Church's own work to reduce our own carbon footprint, but also how the Church's money is invested and how we engage with companies on this vital issue."
The new policy "marks the start of a process of divestment as well as engagement with fossil fuel companies and better aligns the Church's investment practice with its belief, theology and practice", added Bishop Nick Holtam, who is the Church of England's lead bishop on environment.
The Church said it also wanted more intensive engagement with companies that made a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. It recently filed shareholder resolutions at BP and Shell calling for more transparency over climate change.
The Church of England does not directly invest in tobacco, pornography or payday lenders.
Two years ago it emerged that the Church had indirectly invested in Wonga - which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, admitted to being "embarrassed and irritated" about. It has since ended that investment.
