Related Research Articles
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, crude oil and natural gas. Fossil fuels may be burned to provide heat for use directly, to power engines, or to generate electricity. Some fossil fuels are refined into derivatives such as kerosene, gasoline and propane before burning. The origin of fossil fuels is the anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing organic molecules created by photosynthesis. The conversion from these materials to high-carbon fossil fuels typically require a geological process of millions of years.
Timothy Endicott "Tim" Wirth is an American politician from Colorado who served as a Democrat in both the United States Senate (1987-1993) and the United States House of Representatives (1975–1987). He also served in several appointed roles in government, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education during the Nixon Administration and Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs for the U.S. State Department during the Clinton Administration. From 1998 to 2013, he served as the president of the United Nations Foundation, and currently sits on the Foundation's board.
People & Planet is a network of student campaign groups in the UK. It is "the largest student campaigning organisation in the country campaigning to alleviate world poverty, defend human rights and protect the environment."
Disinvestment refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change. The term was first used in the 1980s, most commonly in the United States, to refer to the use of a concerted economic boycott designed to pressure the government of South Africa into abolishing its policy of apartheid. The term has also been applied to actions targeting Iran, Sudan, Northern Ireland, Myanmar, Israel, and China.
The politics of climate change results from different perspectives on how to respond to climate change. Global warming is driven largely by the emissions of greenhouse gases due to human economic activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels, certain industries like cement and steel production, and land use for agriculture and forestry. Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels have provided the main source of energy for economic and technological development. The centrality of fossil fuels and other carbon-intensive industries has resulted in much resistance to climate friendly policy, despite widespread scientific consensus that such policy is necessary.
The National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) was incorporated as The National Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc., in 1993. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African American communities. Additionally, the organization indicates that it represents the views of its members regarding economic and political policy issues; domestically and internationally. It is organized as a 501(c) corporation and has at least 190 chapters within the United States. The NBCC also has international chapters in the Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana and Jamaica. As with all Chambers of Commerce, affiliate branches are committed to carrying out the goals of the main Chamber within their areas.
Socially responsible investing (SRI), social investment, sustainable socially conscious, "green" or ethical investing, is any investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social/environmental good to bring about social change regarded as positive by proponents. Socially responsible investments often constitute a small percentage of total funds invested by corporations and are riddled with obstacles.
"Fossil fuels lobby" is a term used to label the paid representatives of corporations involved in the fossil fuel industry, as well as related industries like chemicals, plastics, aviation and other transportation. Because of their wealth and the importance of energy, transport and chemical industries to local, national and international economies, these lobbies have the capacity and money to attempt to have outsized influence governmental policy. In particular, the lobbies have been known to obstruct policy related to environmental protection, environmental health and climate action.
The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits for California's 965,000 prekindergarten through community college educators and their families. CalSTRS was established by law in 1913 and is part of the State of California's Government Operations Agency. As of September 2020, CalSTRS is the largest teachers' retirement fund in the United States. CalSTRS is also currently the eleventh largest public pension fund in the world. As of October 31, 2020, CalSTRS managed a portfolio worth $254.7 billion.
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute(EESI) is an independent, bi-partisan 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that aims to promote environmentally sustainable societies. Based out of Washington, DC, EESI seeks to be a catalyst moving society away from environmentally damaging fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future. The organization was established in 1984 by a bipartisan and bicameral group of members of the United States Congress who were concerned with global environmental and energy problems.
Power Shift Network is a North American non-profit organization made up of a network of youth-led social and environmental justice organizations working together to build the youth clean energy and climate movement. It runs campaigns in the United States and Canada to build grassroots power and advocate for tangible changes on climate change and social justice at local, state, national and international levels in North America. The organization changed its name from Energy Action Coalition in July 2016 in order to reflect its new leadership and it shift from a coalition to a network structure. The Power Shift Network's members, which include other non-profit organizations and student groups focused on environmental justice, social justice, and climate change, focus their organizing and campaigns on campuses, communities, corporate practices, and politics. The Power Shift Network is part of the Global Youth Climate Movement.
350.org is an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. Its stated goal is to end the use of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy by building a global, grassroots movement.
Climate finance is "finance that aims at reducing emissions, and enhancing sinks of greenhouse gases and aims at reducing vulnerability of, and maintaining and increasing the resilience of, human and ecological systems to negative climate change impacts", as defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Standing Committee on Finance. The term has been used in a narrow sense to refer to transfers of public resources from developed to developing countries, in light of their UN Climate Convention obligations to provide "new and additional financial resources", and in a wider sense to refer to all financial flows relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) is an international grassroots environmental group that trains and supports volunteers to build relationships with their elected representatives in order to influence climate policy. The CCL is a registered 501(c)(4) with approximately $680,000 in revenue in the United States in 2018. Operating since 2007, the goal of CCL is to build political support across party lines to put a price on carbon, specifically a revenue-neutral carbon fee and dividend (CF&D) at the national level. CCL is supported by notable climate scientists James Hansen, Katharine Hayhoe, and Daniel Kammen. CCL's advisory board also includes former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former US Representative Bob Inglis, actor Don Cheadle, and RESULTS founder Sam Daley-Harris.
The carbon bubble is a hypothesized bubble in the valuation of companies dependent on fossil-fuel-based energy production, resulting from future decreases in value of fossil-fuels as they become unusable in order to meet carbon budgets as well as the recognition of negative externalities of carbon fuels which are not yet taken into account in a company's stock market valuation. While most of the campaigns to reduce the investment into, production of, and consumption related to fossil fuels has been done based on ethical reasons, financial analysts, economists, and financial institutions have increasingly argued in favor of doing so for financial reasons. In fact, properly pricing fossil fuels based on the carbon bubble theory would mean renewable energy would be significantly more attractive to invest in, and therefore speed up the transition towards sustainable energy.
The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. Environmental non-profit organizations have engaged in significant climate activism since the late 1980s and early 1990s, as they sought to influence the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Climate activism has become increasingly prominent over time, gaining significant momentum during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit and particularly following the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016.
Fossil fuel divestment or fossil fuel divestment and investment in climate solutions is an attempt to reduce climate change by exerting social, political, and economic pressure for the institutional divestment of assets including stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments connected to companies involved in extracting fossil fuels.
Green Corps is an environmental organization in the United States that trains recent college graduates in a one-year post-graduate program in grassroots community organizing. During the program, Green Corps organizers learn in the classroom and are deployed in the field to work on campaigns.
Since the 1970s, ExxonMobil engaged in climate research, and later began lobbying, advertising, and grant making, some of which were conducted with the purpose of delaying widespread acceptance and action on global warming.
Carla Suzanne Denyer is a British politician who has served as co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales since 2021. She has been a city councillor in Bristol since 2015. She has been noted for her lead role in bringing about Bristol City Council's declaration of a climate emergency in 2018, which was the first in Europe.
References
- ↑ "Divestment helps local governments fight climate change".
- ↑ "Washington DC debates ditching Exxon and Chevron investments". Archived from the original on 2015-09-21. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
- ↑ "Washington D.C. adds its largest public pension to the fossil fuel divestment movement". 6 June 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-07.
- ↑ "Support the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act of 2013 | Washington DC Chapter". Archived from the original on 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
- ↑ "Why DC Should Divest from Fossil Fuels < MCAF". 3 December 2013.