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15/2/2015

Global Divestment Day - share your divestment stories

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After months of planning, it's finally the day when communities worldwide will join their voices asking the institutions that represent, govern, and are subject to them to represent their values and defend their futures - by divesting from the fossil fuel industry. We're asking the health sector to divest - because you can stand for human and planetary health, or for the financial interests of dirty energy companies - not both.

Today we want to ask - why will you divest?
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To mark Global Divestment Day, we're asking as many people as possible to share their divestment stories - who they want to divest (or have already got to divest), and why. Maybe you're a nurse who wants your College to move its money; maybe a doctor and you've already switched your own bank to one standing for a fossil-free future. Maybe you're involved in one of the hundreds of university, faith group, local authority or other divestment campaigns already taking place worldwide. What have your successes been? What challenges do you face? And what does it mean for health?
One way of making your case clear is demonstrated by the great start to Go Green Week made by the medsin national committee an branches from Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Sheffield. We joined forces to make the health case for divestment, which you can see in this video. If you enjoyed it, please share widely!

Whatever you do, have a great Global Divestment Day!

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8/2/2015

Divest Parliament - Enlist your MP's support

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Last Tuesday evening, we launched our Unhealthy Investments report on fossil fuels, human health, and divestment (as you'll no doubt by now be sick of hearing). It didn't take long to see an impact - by Wednesday, it was already being cited in Parliament! A new Early Day Motion, tabled by Green MP Caroline Lucas, calls on the Trustees of the MPs' pension scheme to divest from the fossil fuel industry, citing the potential devastation to human and planetary health that would be caused by continued unrestrained dependence on fossil fuels.
If you're looking for a simple action to take this Green Week and in the build-up to Global Divestment Day, then why not write to your MP - individually, or as a member of your society - asking them to sponsor the motion? It's not only a way of building further support for a fossil-free UK, but it also provides an opportunity to open a dialogue between you and your elected representative around climate change and environmental health, providing further evidence to them that in the run-up to this year's General Election, concerted action on climate change is not just a moral imperative, but a vote winner too.
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Don't know what to say? Start with our template letter - though remember, MPs are always more likely to respond if you make it a bit more personal.

For more ideas on how to take part in Go Green Week and Global Divestment Day, take a look at our inspiration pack for medsin branches - or, as ever, get in touch!

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4/2/2015

Unhealthy Investments: media coverage and next steps

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Yesterday evening marked the launch of Unhealthy Investments, the report on climate change, global health and the fossil fuel industry. Medact and Healthy Planet produced this report, published alongside the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, the Climate and Health Council, and medsin, as a tool to help health workers make the case for their representative bodies, funders, and other health sector institutions to divest from the fossil fuel industry. The report argues that:
  • Eighty per cent of existing fossil fuel reserves must remain unburned to avoid the worst effects of climate change, yet the fossil fuel industry continues to exploit still more.
  • By investing in the fossil fuel industry, we fund it. We simply cannot go on this way. It is time for health workers to stand up for human and planetary health.
  • One in eight deaths worldwide are caused by particulate air pollution, yet we continue to expand fossil fuel power and high-carbon transport infrastructure.
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This infographic from Unhealthy Investments illustrates estimated death tolls per unit energy produced for different modes of energy generation.
There has been significant coverage of the report’s launch in various venues.

  • The most-read piece in the Environment section of the Guardian today has been this article by Damian Carrington; he states that the Wellcome Trust, who currently have over £450m invested in fossil fuel companies, were unable to provide any concrete examples of their engagement with these companies as shareholder activists despite this being their primary stated reason for refusing to divest.
  • The BMJ has covered the release, emphasising the health impacts of particulate air pollution in the UK and the contribution of fossil fuels to this death toll.
  •  An article in Geographic Magazine, the publication of the Royal Geographical Society, focuses on the impact of fossil fuels on London’s health, in particular the 3,389 Londoners annually lost to air pollution-caused disease, according to research by Public Health England.
  • The sustainable business community across Europe is paying attention, with coverage in both BusinessGreen and greenbiz.it .
  • A positive reaction on social media has been led by 350.org activists worldwide, this viral image quoting HP coordinator Al, for example, being shared over 100 times in just a few hours.
  • Edit 4/2/15 22:41: ClimateProgress also pick up the story, with an article that looks in a bit greater depth at the health impacts of climate change, particularly in the US.

What now?

This is only the beginning; the report and related resources, and the coverage and debate surrounding it, provide the perfect tools for healthcare students and health workers to take the case for divestment – and action on the health impacts of climate change – to their universities, trusts, unions, professional organisations, representative bodies, and other representatives of the health community. How can we go about doing this? Some ideas:

  • If you would like to work with us and groups like Medact on tackling climate change as an issue of global health and social justice, then get in touch with us! Visit our Contact Us page for details.
  • February 13th-14th is Global Divestment Day worldwide – groups campaigning for a fairer, fossil-free future across the globe will be marking the occasion with direct actions, information events, lobbying efforts, and much more besides. Visit the 350.org website to find out how you can take part – or join us on actions in London and Edinburgh.
  • If you are a current or future health worker, your professional organisation – the Royal Colleges, Societies and the like – are YOUR voice in the UK public arena. Let them know that you don’t want it to be used in support of the fossil fuel industry. We’re working on resources to help members contact their Colleges directly; for now, if you’d like some assistance, get in touch with us.
  • Talk to your colleagues, bosses, friends, family – anyone who will listen – about the need for action. UN talks in Paris this December could decide the fate of the world – a sustainable future for all, or rising temperatures, oceans, and death tolls. If there was ever a time for the health community to make its voice heard, it is now.
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For more on divestment and health, visit the Unhealthy Investments report site: www.unhealthyinvestments.uk.

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2/2/2015

Unhealthy Investments and the divestment movement

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I have been involved with the fossil fuel divestment movement over the past year, both with the University and through Healthy Planet UK, after coming to terms with the enormity of climate change and the need for urgent action. As a medical student I am compelled by a similar duty of care towards our ecosystem, on which our health depends, and am called to respond to its current symptoms of distress. Divestment offers a way to treat one of the root causes of these symptoms – the continued burning of fossil fuels – through moving investments away from the fossil fuel industry whose business model relies upon burning reserves which hold over five times that which is safe to burn if we are to stay below the 2 degrees Celsius limit of global warming[1] Akin to the health sector leading divestment from the tobacco industry, there is a similar narrative in the response to the health threat of climate change further weighted by tactics utilised by the fossil fuel industry to thwart climate mitigation policy and mar public perception of the reality of climate science[2]. UK universities hold around £5.2 billion worth of investments through their endowment funds in the fossil fuel industry[3]. However, divestment is not simply a matter of money, most divestment decisions have been driven by a moral case. It rests on a simple principle -if it is wrong to wreck the planet, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. For the medical tradition, investing in fossil fuels can be seen to contradict the fundamental principle to “first do no harm”. So far 21 universities, 35 cities, 65 religious organisations and numerous other organisations from around the world including the British Medical Association have committed to divesting from fossil fuels[4].

Medical institutions and the health community have a unique awareness of climate change through its current and future impacts on human health, but also through the potential immense health co-benefits of tackling climate change such as reducing the disease burden of air pollution, which has recently been attributed to 2000 premature deaths annually in Scotland[5], and encouraging active travel through reducing our reliance on fossil fuel guzzling cars. This gives an important dimension to the divestment dialogue and the engagement of medical schools and health organisations is sure to be very valuable. On the 3rd February, Healthy Planet are publishing their report “Unhealthy Investments”, co-authored with MedAct, The Climate and Health Council, Medsin and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. This will be a crucial step towards further engagement on fossil fuel divestment from the health sector. It will involve a panel of expert speakers to discuss the question of whether organisations which work to improve health should continue to invest in fossil fuel extraction and production companies. Should the health sector be taking more of a lead in this issue? There is certainly great potential in engaging with the process and evaluating how best our pension and endowment funds can be invested towards a healthier and more sustainable future.

Eleanor Dow – new Deputy coordinator of Healthy Planet UK,  medical student at the University of Edinburgh

References

[1] http://www.carbontracker.org/

[2] http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/Dealing-in-Doubt—the-Climate-Denial-Machine-vs-Climate-Science/

[3] http://peopleandplanet.org/fossil-free

[4] http://gofossilfree.org/commitments/

[5] http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/air-pollution




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