WCC news: WCC to investors: accelerate investments into renewable energies

During Building Bridges Action Days featuring high-level dialogues and interventions from thought leaders about the future of finance, the World Council of Churches (WCC) spoke out about why the world must accelerate investments into renewable energies. 9 November 2022, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt: People rally at the venue of the United Nations climate change conference COP27, urging a complete stop to all forms of support for fossil fuels. Photo: LWF/Albin Hillert 05 October 2023 Frederique Seidel, WCC senior advisor on child rights, noted that there are 425 new fossil fuel expansion projects—"carbon bombs”—threatening to completely undo progress around curbing harmful emissions.  But investors can change this trajectory, she urged. “Although CO2 emissions currently continue going up for now, there is hope, because of the still largely untapped, and most powerful lever of climate-responsible banking,” she said. "Fiduciary duty is not an obstacle but a reason to accelerate shift to renewable energy.” Seidel noted that fossil-free investments are consistent with fiduciary duty and child rights.  “You as Investors play a key role in the climate-responsible interpretation of fiduciary duty,” she said. “In fact many investors are victims of the disinformation on global warming and the orchestrated climate change denial.” She shared examples of related ongoing litigation. "Human rights experts from the United Nations have issued a warning to Saudi Aramco and its banks over the company’s responsibility in the climate emergency, after ClientEarth filed a legal complaint accusing Aramco of committing the largest ever climate-related breach of human rights law by a business,” she explained.  It’s time to rethink climate-responsible investing, Seidel said, and stop using past models.  “Capitalising on the opportunities of the energy transition, while protecting investor capital and the climate, demands a new direction,” she said.   Save Children’s Lives: Climate-Responsible Banking Survival Guide Climate-Responsible Finance - a Moral Imperative towards Children Cooler Earth - Higher Benefits (Third Edition) See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland