US Bank
to Stop Funding Pipelines as Divestment Movement Expands Worldwide
Monday, May 15, 2017
'From the Pacific Islands to South Africa, from the United
States to Germany, people are standing up and challenging the power of the
fossil fuel industry'
A child takes part in a Global Divestment Mobilisation (GDM)
action in Davao, Philippines. (Photo: 350.org/flickr/cc)
As a nearly ten-days-long global mobilization calling for
divestment from fossil fuels comes to an end, climate campaigners are
celebrating a major victory stateside: U.S. Bank has announced that it will no
longer finance fossil fuel pipeline construction.
"Move to a green economy and a future that does not profit
off the destruction of Mother Earth and our communities."
—Tara Houska, Honor the EarthThe announcement came during the company's April
shareholder meeting, reported MN350, a state arm of international
climate justice group 350.org, on Monday.
As a result of the new policy, MN350 observes that the bank will
no longer provide "project financing for the construction of oil or
natural gas pipelines," and will also apply "enhanced due diligence
processes" to oil and gas industry clients.
"U.S. Bank's new policy is an important step in protecting
the environment and moving towards a fossil free future," said Wichahpi Otto, a MN350 volunteer,
who attended the shareholder meeting in Nashville. "We applaud them for
responding to the community and contributing to worldwide efforts to address
climate change."
The group writes:
This move
comes after ongoing pressure on U.S. Bank locally from MN350 and from the
Minnesotans for a Fair Economy coalition, and on banks nationally from
indigenous groups including Honor the Earth, the Indigenous
Environmental Network, and the Dakota Access resistance movement.
Beginning
in 2015, a regional partnership of climate, labor, and indigenous rights
advocates has urged that U.S. Bank divest from fossil fuels, in particular from
Enbridge Energy, and move its financing into the clean energy economy. Local
actions have included letter-writing, account closures, and social media campaigns.
In response, in May 2016 the bank made changes to their Environmental Policy
restricting lending to coal.
"We applaud this progressive decision from U.S. Bank,"
said Tara Houska, National Campaigns Director of Honor the Earth. "A
strong message is being sent to the fossil fuel industry: we are consumers, we
have agency and the right to know how our money is being invested. Move to a
green economy and a future that does not profit off the destruction of Mother
Earth and our communities."
Meanwhile, 260 events in 45 countries saw people worldwide
campaign for banks to divest from fossil fuel projects. The Global
Divestment Mobilization (GDM) ran from May 5 to May 13, and
included events in Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia, and South America.
"Divestment is a powerful act of solidarity and justice for
the world's most vulnerable people, a defense of nature and our
planet," said Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and
Development (APMDD) in a statement.
"We urgently need a transformation in the global energy
system, away from the fossil fuel dependence that drives climate change, and
challenge fossil fuel corporations that oppose progress in climate action and
prioritize profits over people and planet," Nacpil continued.
"Divestment has proven to be one of the most effective ways to push for
this much needed transformation."
"The fact that the fossil fuel divestment movement has
grown exponentially in the last few years is the best news ever."
—Bill McKibben, 350.org
"During the GDM citizens and
respected institutions across the world were able to enact an immediate and a
much needed transformational form of climate leadership," wrote 350.org.
"This included the announcement from nine Catholic organizations from
around the world about their decision to divest their portfolios from fossil
fuels in the largest joint Catholic divestment to date. A total of 27 Catholic institutions have now
divested. Meanwhile in Brazil over 3000 people participated in prayers in a
vigil outside the Umuarama Cathedral, to voice their hopes for a fossil fuel
free future."
The organization went on to describe the varied actions in
far-flung locations around the world:
Across
Europe, the links between municipalities and fossil fuel companies came under
scrutiny. Over 1,000 people marched in Munich, Germany and demonstrations took
place across the UK including rallies at 14 Town Halls across London demanding
divestment. Campaigners also put pressure on universities pension funds, faith,
health and cultural institutions such as the Louvre in Paris, the Van Gogh
Museum in Amsterdam and the British Museum.
The
battle to safeguard people and planet is linked worldwide, the money in one
part of the world is linked to infrastructure projects being built elsewhere.
Hundreds gathered in Jakarta to listen to community representatives from
Indramayu recount the struggles they encounter living in the shadow of a coal
power plant. During an event in Japan case studies of Japanese banks financing
coal power plants in Indonesia and oil pipelines in the United States were
highlighted to put pressure on Japanese banks to pull out of fossil fuels.
In New
Zealand and Australia campaigners targeted Australian coal-giant Adani by
calling on the banks that invest in it, including CommBank to stop its funding.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef has suffered a large bleaching for the second year in a row. Any mining expansion
would jeopardise it even further.
Meanwhile
in New York 150 activists rallied inside Trump Tower, to
call on New York City officials to cut their ties with the dirty oil and gas
companies that control the White House. In the face of federal government
climate denial and the possibility of the U.S. leaving the Paris Agreement,
demonstrating that local leaders can show impactful climate leadership, while other parts of the country are suffering from
severe flooding.
"There is no question we are currently
in a state of emergency on climate change. Day in day out people are dying from
the effects of climate change," said author and 350.org co-founder Bill
McKibben in a statement. "There are many ways to confront this emergency
and divestment allows us to get in the way of the money financing the fossil
fuel projects behind this crisis. The fact that the fossil fuel divestment
movement has grown exponentially in the last few years is the best news
ever."
"From the Pacific Islands to South Africa, from the United
States to Germany, people are standing up and challenging the power of the
fossil fuel industry," McKibben added.
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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