Fossil fuels are the biggest cause. Through investments, many charities are unintentionally funding the fossil fuel industry.

All charities can be part of the solution. NCVO's brilliant new Fuelling Positive Change campaign encourages charities to think about divesting from fossil fuels. Every charity, big and small, can drive the change to a more sustainable world.

Together we can support our sector to take charity money out of fossil fuels and fuel positive change instead.

Why does it matter?

What is fossil fuel divestment?

Divestment means moving money away from funds for financial, ethical, or other reasons. It is the opposite of investment. This could include disposing of stocks, bonds, or investments.

Fossil fuel divestment is when an organisation or individual moves their money away from businesses involved in the extraction, production, transportation, refining and marketing of fossil fuels. Examples of these fuels are coal, tar sands, oil and gas.

The aim of fossil fuel divestment is to:

• reduce further greenhouse gases being released into the environment
• reject investment opportunities in order to weaken the fossil fuel industry’s political influence.

UK general charities hold £118 billion in investment assets.

Reasons to consider fossil fuel divestment

There are a number of important reasons for your organisation to consider divestment, including:

Addressing social inequality

Climate change will affect all of us but not everyone will be impacted equally. The severity of the impact will depend on intersectional factors.

Charities are likely to find it harder to achieve their charitable objectives during a rapidly growing crisis that will create and worsen social inequalities.

Potential operational risk

Climate change is likely to cause immeasurable and irreversible damage to people and our planet if we don’t act now.

Charities could be overwhelmed by the demand for support, affecting our day-to-day work. Charities’ budgets, plans and strategies are likely to struggle due to the unpredictable and increasing crises to follow if we allow climate change to continue.

Considering financial risk

There are many suggestions that there is a real financial risk of fossil fuel assets losing value in the medium term.

Awareness of reputational risk

Investing in fossil fuels could harm your charity’s reputation making it more difficult to fundraise and recruit staff and volunteers or both. As a result, this could impact the delivery of services.

Charities are leaders for change

Charities are a trusted source of information working with local communities across the country.

By divesting from fossil fuels, charities can send a clear message to members of the public that fossil fuels are unsustainable.

This also encourages other charities and organisations to act. These actions aim to weaken the social license (the view by the public that an area of work is socially acceptable) of oil, gas and coal businesses.

Divesting from fossil fuels puts pressure on the government to change law and policy for a more sustainable future.

The decisions we make today about our investments are likely to impact future generations. By divesting from fossil fuels, charities can once again step forward as leaders of change.

How to divest from fossil fuels

NCVO have guidance, key terms and templates to support your fossil-free divestment journey.

Some options charities can take to divest from fossil fuels include:

• Divest your charity’s current investments from fossil fuels within the next 3 to 5 years. Commit that your charity will make no new investments in fossil fuels.
• Consider reinvesting your charity’s investments to further your charitable purposes.
• If your charity does not currently hold investments in fossil fuels, commit to making sure fossil fuels will be excluded from any future investments you make.
• Whichever commitment you choose, maximise the impact of your decision by sharing with your donors, supporters, and the wider public.

Sign up to receive campaign updates from NCVO. Another important campaign that we'd encourage you get involved with!