NGOs, faith groups, foundations and activists convene to take action on global climate breakdown crisis
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – This September, faith leaders, foundations, university administrators, activists, health care organizations, and municipal governments will convene in Cape Town, South Africa for a multi-stakeholder event on Financing the Future: A Global Climate Divest-Invest Summit. The Summit is the world’s first major conference on the role of Finance in tackling the climate crisis to be held in the Global South.
WHAT: Financing the Future: The Global Climate Divest-Invest Summit
WHERE: Two Oceans Aquarium, Cape Town, South Africa
WHEN: September 10 – 11, 2019
At a time when many governments are backsliding dangerously on climate policy, investors play a crucial role in financing our future. Advocates across the globe have called on institutions to divest from fossil fuels and to invest in a new energy economy. To date, more than 1,000 institutional investors with over $9.2 trillion in assets — including cities, religious and spiritual groups, foundations, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds — have committed to divest from fossil fuels, marking unprecedented growth and progress for an exploding global movement.
Bringing together diverse leaders, activists, and government officials, the Summit will:
- Build momentum for the global Divest-Invest movement by convening cities, faith-based organizations, foundations and universities for an interactive program that provides tools and resources to align capital with climate goals.
- Showcase and strengthen the Global South’s leadership role in the movement, underscoring the urgent need for investments that help developing nations leapfrog dirty development and provide clean energy access.
- Provide a platform for new Divest-Invest announcements and for the release of a high-level statement from movement leaders challenging the global community to leave fossil fuels in the ground.
We invite you to join us in Cape Town on September 10-11 to witness and take part in this historic summit. The conference program is published here.
Notable speakers
- Paulo Artaxo, Professor of Environmental Physics at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Nnimmo Bassey, director of the ecological think-tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and member steering committee of Oilwatch International
- Mark Campanale, Founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative
- Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director of the Wallace Global Fund
- Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith
- Makoma Lekalakala, Director of Earthlife Africa
- Mark Watts, Executive Director of C40
Summit Ambassadors (those who are backing the conference, but are unable to attend)
- Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community
- Bill McKibben, Author and environmentalist
- Mayor Dan Plato, Mayor of Cape Town
- Mary Robinson, Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice in Trinity College Dublin and Chair of The Elders, Former President of Ireland (1990-1997) and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002)
Media Contact/RSVP: Please fill out the media registration form at financingthefuture.global/media
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