DITCHED: Origins of the Divest/Invest Movement

Aug 24, 2020

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A decade ago, hopes that world leaders would rally around meaningful policies to combat climate change were at a low. The 2009 United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen had ended with little to show for it and the U.S. failed to pass a major climate bill the following year.

Then in 2011, the first divestment campaigns struck up on college campuses.

In the climate space, divestment is all about shifting capital out of fossil fuels — the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity worldwide. The concept of divestment isn’t new, but it is gaining momentum. It’s also evolving and expanding into other areas of the financial system.

Meanwhile, there is a separate but related flurry of activity on the invest side of the equation and moving money into socially responsible and environmentally friendly solutions. Divest/Invest.

On this episode of Political Climate — the first in a new miniseries we’re calling DITCHED: fossil fuels, money flows and the greening of finance — host Julia Pyper speaks to Ellen Dorsey, executive director of the Wallace Global Fund, about the origins of the Divest/Invest movement.

The Wallace Global Fund, a private foundation focused on progressive social change, is a founding member of the Divest Invest: Philanthropy, a coalition of more than 170 foundations committed to deploying their investments to address the climate crisis and accelerate the clean energy transition.

Episodes of DITCHED will air Mondays over the next several weeks. Listen and subscribe to Political Climate wherever you get podcasts!