Bishop Desmond Tutu says we need an apartheid-style boycott to save the planet and he strongly advocates divestment.
The World Council of Churches, representing half a billion of Christians and 345 member churches has decided to divest.
The United Church of Canada will be considering the same action at its General Council in Newfoundland this summer.
Students at UVic are voting on a referendum on March 4th on whether to lobby the University to divest.
Divest from what?
Fossil Fuels. They are demanding divestment of fossil fuel assets as part of a much larger strategy to help bring about the massive change that the world must make in order to turn around the titanic consequences of human-caused climate change. They are targeting institutional investments in the fossil fuel industry. They are part of a world-wide movement, the fastest divestment movement in history, to divest from fossil fuels and invest in a clean energy future.
They are acting because the balance of life and the future of our children are threatened by climate change. For decades, scientists, environmentalists, researchers, religious leaders, and now economists and business leaders have been warning us of the dire consequences of global warming. We will see rising sea levels, record breaking storms, the melting of the polar caps, salinization of the oceans, floods and droughts. Millions of people will be endangered and displaced. Human communities and earth’s ecosystems will be devastated. The poor and the vulnerable will be hit hardest and the rich and comfortable will have their lives irrevocably changed for the worse.
Unless we collectively turn things around.
This turning will have to take place in every human endeavor. One commentator has called this The Great Turning. Every aspect of human civilization, from the individual to the collective, will have to be engaged in making choices that will either reverse the devastating effects of our dependence on fossil fuels, or make it worse for all life on earth.
This is a huge challenge, because our civilization is completely dependent upon fossil fuels. The turning is made the more difficult because those sectors of our society that benefit most directly from exploitation of fossil fuels are the most intransigent in supporting change. Fossil fuel industries have used their considerable financial power to prevent legislation and international agreements to reduce carbon emissions and to pressure governments to give tax incentives for the support of increased extraction of fossil fuels, such as in the Athabasca Oil Sands and the LNG fracking fields.
Religious traditions share values that hold the earth as sacred and see human beings as part of the web of life with the sacred responsibility to add to its beauty and wisdom and not to destroy it. Our choices are to be guided by a love for the earth, to uphold its integrity, to live in harmony within Creation. It is hypocritical for individuals and communities of faith to affirm a love of earth and then have their assets invested in industries that destroy it. Because the fossil fuels sector’s unyielding refusal to change and its hold over governments, it is no longer right for religious groups to profit from industries that are, with scientific certainty, endangering humanity and the well-being of the earth.
Instead, faith communities, as individuals and collectively, can re-invest in a clean energy future and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Over the next couple of years, many of Canada’s faith communities will be addressing the divestment of their assets out of the fossil fuel industry. Let’s hope they will choose to join in the Great Turning.
Henri Lock is the United Church Chaplain at the University of Victoria. He is part of a religiously diverse team offering spiritual learning and practice to the UVic community through the office of Multifaith Services.
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE
This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on Saturday March 7
