July 16, 2019

September 10-11, 2019 – Financing the Future: A Global Climate Divest-Invest Summit

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

ENDS

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