Europe’s largest lenders take small steps away from fossil fuels
...but while these steps might be in line with policy, they’re far from the realities of science and justice.
Photo: The EBRD is based near Liverpool St, London. Not surprisingly, London is also home to one of the world’s biggest stock exchanges, most heavily invested in fossil fuels.
There has been a lot of talk over the last few weeks of big public financial institutions altering their lending policies, looking to phase out support for fossil fuels. These mainly positive developments have been cautiously welcomed by climate campaigners. Although they show increasing alignment with EU policy designed to mitigate climate change, they are far from what science and justice demand.
Recently, the World Bank amended its lending policies for new coal-fired power projects, restricting financial support to countries that have "no feasible alternatives" to coal. Arguing that funding coal-fired power plants is sometimes necessary to bring energy to the world's poorest nations and help eradicate poverty, they fail to explain why this goal couldn’t be equally achieved with clean, renewable energy infrastructure.
This week, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the world's largest public financial institution, announced that it would be applying an Emissions Performance Standard (EPS), to all new fossil fuel projects. While this is an encouraging step in the right direction and it’s likely that an EPS of 550g CO2 per kWh will initially rule out the dirtiest forms of coal, a target of 350g CO2 per kWh, is what’s needed to show serious intent to rise to the challenge of climate change.
The EIB announcement also introduces exemptions that will leave the door open to business as usual, more coal and other extreme fossil fuel projects such as fracking – none of which are compatible with a world under 2 degrees of warming. The EIB draft policy states that when “a [coal] plant contributes to the security of supply” within the EU or when “it contributes to poverty alleviation and economic development” outside of the EU, it might well be eligible for funding.
Energy poverty is often cited as justification for building new coal plants in poor countries, however the extent to which they have an impact on energy access and security of supply is questionable. It is in countries where rural communities make up a significant proportion of the population that impacts, such as respiratory illness and loss of land and livelihoods, of fossil fuel energy projects are primarily felt. Large scale, centralised, dirty power from coal tends to benefit industry before people. Whereas decentralised, community owned renewable energy seem to make much more sense in both terms of access and security of supply.
We know that to avoid the extreme worsening of the climate crisis we have to leave 80% of the fossil fuels we already have access to in the ground. Recently, Connie Hedeggard, EU commissioner for Climate Action, called on the EIB, World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to divest from fossil fuel projects. Combined, these institutions are responsible for $130 billion of lending, of which $37 billion has been given to coal projects over the last five years.
With the recent announcements from both the World Bank and the EIB, it’s perhaps now time to turn attention to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as it hears comments from various stakeholders on its new draft energy strategy in London today. While a draft proposal shows criteria for lending tightened, campaigners warn there is still room for the Bank to continue lending to the “very dirty coal projects” and are calling on the EBRD to “follow the World Bank and EIB’s example, and to clean up their act too.”
Over the coming months, as the divestment campaign catches on across Europe, we’ll be looking to work closely together with our friends and allies across Europe, including Bankwatch, Counterbalance, Re:Common, Urgewald and many more to help put an end to use of public money for the development of fossil fuel projects.
Join our mailing list and keep up to date with our work and opportunities to get involved as they develop.
This is actually the Prime Minister of New Zealand
I'm from New Zealand, and I need your help.
Whenever I meet people overseas, there's usually a perception that New Zealand is one of the only places left on Earth that is clean and green. It's partly true - it's a very beautiful place. If you go hiking, or 'tramping' as we prefer to call it, you can walk for a week and not see anyone if you pick your hills right. The stunning snow covered mountains do look a bit like in the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit - mainly because that's where it was actually filmed.
But it's time to set the record straight, because there's also the perception that the New Zealand Government is a relative saint when it comes to taking care of the environment and taking action on climate change. Rather than explain to you at length in words how this perception is dangerously wrong, all you have to do is watch this video clip of the actual New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key (and no, it's not a Flight of the Conchords parody, although I desperately wish that it was). He lays out his plans to dig up as much of New Zealand for resources as he can, and to drill deeper and deeper oil wells in our oceans - even when powerful earthquakes, like the 6.5 quake that hit Wellington this week are striking at these drill sites.
All of this comes at a time when we know that the world has already gone too far in sucking out every last bit of fossil fuels we can find, and there comes a time to say No More. So in the coming months and year, our team in New Zealand will be scaling up our efforts to show our outrage at John Key and his Government, and that we shall not stand idley by as they plunder New Zealand. The number of jobs and royalties Key quotes are hardly to be the 'game changer' he suggests them to be. It's classic 20th century politician policy - so desperately uncreative and unoriginal it's appealing to some people. There are so many other ways New Zealand can prosper and grow, without short-term greed and plunder. Yes it won't always be easy, and it will take creativity, entrepreunership and hardwork, but those qualities are at the core of the good old Kiwi, No.8 wire spirit, so I don't doubt for a minute that we could do it.
So will you help us as we gear up to hold back the plunder of New Zealand - and share this so we can set the record straight with the rest of the world (you can tweet at him: @johnkeypm). The fight is on to keep New Zealand the way it should be.
A Magazine of Our Movement
I woke up this morning to find a local volunteer in Melbourne, Australia had sent me a magazine. No - not a magazine about the royal couple's new baby. All congratulations to that royal couple, but really, this magazine is far more interesting: the Global Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement magazine!
It was less than two months ago that we officially launched divestment campaigning in Australia, during Bill McKibben's Do the Maths tour. Since then it's been a scramble for us to keep up with the explosion of divestment campaigning across the country, from university campuses to churches, to towns and cities. At the sametime, we've been learning and sharing resources with divestment campaigners in the United States - who have even got Obama uttering the word "divest". Now we're looking to Europe as divestment looks set to take hold there in the coming months.
Graham Clark has been watching and documenting the movement closely and has pulled together many of it's successes, highlights and stories into this epic 30 page online flip magazine. It's truly inspiring to see how much this movement has achieved in a very short amount of time, and the momentum brewing for the coming months and years. So take a look, share and enjoy!
Power Shift Pilipinas Ask PH President to #WalkTheClimateTalk
VIDEO: An Unprecedented Event
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Dear Friends,
Last month, something incredible happened.
In Istanbul, 500 climate activists from 134 countries came together for "Phase 1" of Global Power Shift. You can get a glimpse of this unprecedented event in this inspiring two-minute video:
We'll need everyone on board for Phase 2, so take two minutes to watch and share the video -- and sign up to join the next phase in the fight for our future.
Onwards,
Hong for the whole team at 350.org
Good Governors Don’t Frack Their People
On July 13th, over a hundred Coloradans from across the state gathered outside the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) meeting at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen to tell Governor Hickenlooper and other governors from across the country to say no to fracking and yes to a renewable energy future. The demonstration outside the Democratic Governors Association’s “Summer Policy Conference” was organized by 350 Colorado and other members and allies of Protect Our Colorado, a statewide coalition dedicated to protecting Colorado from fracking. The groups sought to ensure that these important state leaders and presidential hopefuls know that support for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is unpopular with voters and to urge them to chart a course for a renewable energy future.
Check out a video from the rally here, and read more after the break:
BIG NEWS.
President Obama just finished his first major climate speech to the country -- and he said things that NOBODY expected.
In his speech, the President drew a line in the sand on the Keystone XL pipeline: if it significantly increases climate pollution, he won’t approve it. And in a move that made me jump for joy, he gave a shout-out to the growing fossil fuel divestment movement.
The other policies he laid out were, for the most part, steps in the right direction. Ending the ability of power plants to emit unlimited carbon pollution, investing in clean energy, preparing for climate impacts, and and reengagement in the international climate process -- these are all huge victories for the climate movement.
This was only possible because of the movement that we’ve all worked together to create. Our fossil fuel divestment campaign has caught fire. In February, we worked with our allies to hold the largest climate rally in US history to tell the President to move Forward on Climate -- and now he really is.
Right now is a critical time for us to up the ante -- we're aiming to raise over $100,000 in the next 24 hours to expand our campaign to stop Keystone XL and spark a huge push for bold climate action. Click here to chip in: www.350.org/game-on
One thing is clear after the President's speech: our fight just got bumped up to a whole new level. The fossil fuel industry is already taking to the airwaves to attack the President’s climate plan -- and they’re going to fight even harder for the Keystone pipeline.
The President said that the pipeline could only be approved if the project doesn’t "significantly exacerbate the climate problem." We all know that Keystone would do exactly that, and the nation’s top climate scientists are unanimous in describing the pipeline as a major threat to our planet. But we don’t want to celebrate prematurely -- the President did leave himself some wiggle room to approve Keystone. The State Department hired big oil contractors to write their report on the pipeline, and they said it wouldn't 'significantly' increase emissions. Their arguments have been picked apart by journalists, scientists, even the Environmental Protection Agency -- but there’s still a chance the administration could hide behind this weak analysis.
In the coming days and weeks, we’ll put your donation to work. We’ll expand our efforts to make sure Keystone protests greet the President at all his public events, work with allies like CREDO Action on the KXL “Pledge of Resistance,” and continue to wage an online, media, and grassroots campaign against the project.
The speech wasn’t without its missteps. The President announced loan guarantees for so-called “advanced” fossil fuel projects, and gave shout-outs to natural gas from fracking. On the whole, the plans he laid out weren’t nearly ambitious enough. The truth is, the President alone can’t deliver the type of real climate action we need, like putting a price on carbon. Keystone XL, fossil fuel divestment, and our other campaigns are building a grassroots movement to end Big Oil's stranglehold on Washington -- and now is the time to ramp them up. Click here to support a bold grassroots climate movement.
I'm writing this letter from Istanbul, where our team is here with 500 youth climate activists from all over the world for Global Power Shift -- the first ever convergence of its kind. We watched the speech huddled around laptops and jumped up and down when we heard the parts about Keystone and divesting.
350.org started in 2008, while President Obama was still just a candidate -- and we all hoped that one day he might be a political leader who would rise to the climate challenge. Today that challenge is more urgent than ever, our movement is stronger than ever, and the President's speech has given us a new glimmer of hope. Game on.
Onwards,
May for the whole team at 350.org
Huge Movement in Australia Right Now
In the wake of Bill McKibben's Do the Maths tour of Australia, the movement is moving so fast it's hard to keep up with. Here's an update from one of our team on the ground there, Georgia Bamber.
After an amazing tour in Australia by 350 founder, Bill McKibben, 350 Australia has hit the ground running. We are so excited about our new divestment campaigns and the opportunities we have to make a real difference in Australia towards mitigating the impacts of climate change.
We now have 7 hubs operating across Australia in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart and Byron Bay. Each is a hive of climate activity with post tour meetings being held, ongoing volunteer recruitment and the initial planning phases of our divestment campaigns underway. If you are interested in joining one of these groups we would love to hear from you (just email us at [email protected]). The more the merrier!
On the divestment front things are already getting exciting. Three city councils/local governments have already signaled their interest in divesting. Our message is clearly getting out there and we are not the only ones talking about the carbon bubble. Australia’s Climate Commission released a report earlier this week agreeing that 80% of fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground if we are to avoid disastrous and catastrophic climate change. Of course the coal industry could not let this pass and were quick to jump in to debunk the report but despite herself, Nikki Williams only seemed to strengthen the argument for the ‘carbon bubble’. If you want to have a listen to what she has to say check it out here.
Next week is going to be a big week, with the international day of action against coal planned for 29 June. Events are being held all around the world to demonstrate the strength of the global movement calling for an end to coal. If you would like to lend your support check out this website and help end the age of coal. Here in Australia we are joining with our friends from Market Forces and will be releasing an open letter to the big 4 banks, ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac letting them know that it is no longer OK to continue to fund the climate destroying coal industry. We will keep you posted of developments but in the meantime if you bank with one of the big 4 in Australia, put them on notice and let them know where you stand.
Over the next few months we will be running divestment training courses, divestment forums in each of the major cities and ramping up our campaigns. There is a lot of work to be done but we are energised and ready to fight.
To follow 350.org Australia on Facebook, click here and then hit 'LIKE' and on Twitter click here to follow @350Australia
To check out how you can join the campaign from Australia, visit gofossilfree.org/australia
“As temperatures rise, so do we.”
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Friends!
As we head into the thick of summer, things are heating up, and I'm not talking about the weather.
For the past month, we've been working with organizers and activists all over the country on organizing mobilizations to bring the heat to the fossil fuel industry, starting in late July. Here's just some of what's in store:
Folks in Ohio are gearing up to address the fracking industry with power in numbers, Nebraska and Houston are ramping up local campaigns to show that community power can stop the Keystone XL pipeline, Utah is bustling around plans to stop the first US tar sands development, and Massachusetts activists are organizing to shut down Brayton Point Coal Plant, the largest fossil fuel plant between Maryland and Maine.
And here's more exciting news: in the past few weeks, we've been working in close partnership with organizers to put even more actions on the map.
In Richmond, California we're supporting local community groups hosting a Festival of Resistance against Chevron's Bay Area refinery on August 3rd. Thousands of people from across the region will challenge Chevron for their support of tar sands development, the impacts their dirty refinery has on the surrounding residents, and their poor safety standards that caused a massive fire last year.
And in Portland, Oregon on July 27th we're supporting a regional mobilization on the Columbia River to keep fossil fuel exports out of the Pacific Northwest. (boaters are encouraged, but we need you on the shore as well!)
This is a going to be a big summer because we're a big movement. Thousands of people have already signed up to join these actions -- click here to be a part of an epic summer of action: joinsummerheat.org/map
In solidarity,
Rae and the Summer Heat Team