Protect the Irreplaceable - Move Your Money Away From Fossil Fuels This Divest December!
This December, Outdoors People for Climate is running an exciting month of action to protect the irreplaceable by helping people move their money away from fossil fuels!
Keep reading to find out why you should move your money to banks and superannuation funds that do not use your hard-earned money to fund destructive fossil-fuel projects!
Why should you divest?
Large swathes of Australia on land and offshore are at risk of gas extraction through gas permits, leases, licenses and release areas. Shockingly, 28% of Australia's land mass is currently subject to gas exploration or applications from gas companies. [1]
These openings for gas exploration are a direct threat to the irreplaceable, iconic outdoor places that we love, all around Australia.
Places like the Pilliga forest, half a million hectares of rare intact temperate eucalypt woodland located beside the remarkable Warrumbungles National Park, where despite enormous community and First Nations opposition, Santos plans to drill 850 coal seam gas wells, for a gas-field that would be 38 times the size of the City of Sydney. [2]
Or the Otway Basin, home to an iconic coastline and the Great Ocean Road, where just 5km away from the famous Twelve Apostles, new areas have been opened up for offshore oil and gas exploration. [3]
And the remote Kimberley region, known for its dramatic gorges, rugged ranges, isolated coastline and Aboriginal heritage, which is threatened by fracking and has already seen a gas company clear a 14,000km straight line through it's bush land. [4]
Right now, irreplaceable land and seascapes are in harms way, but it doesn't have to be this way. Consensus from climate scientists, the European Union, The United Nations and the International Energy Agency, tell us that to avoid dangerous climate change, there can be no new fossil fuel infrastructure. [1] Australia is the land of wind and sun and we have everything we need to rapidly and fairly transition to 100% renewable energy. [5]
And yet, many of our banks and superannuation funds are investing our hard earned money into these unneeded and destructive fossil fuel projects. Since the Paris Agreement, Australia's big four banks have loaned $44.4 billion to climate-wrecking fossil fuels. [6]
So, take action with us, move your money to a bank or superannuation fund that will not use your hard-earned money to fund fossil fuels, keep reading to find out how!
How to switch your bank or super
You can Pledge to either switch to a bank or super that doesn't invest in fossil fuels or contact your bank or super to let them know that if they continue to invest in fossil fuels, you'll take your money somewhere else.
Our webpage here has all of the information you need to make switching (or contacting) your bank/super quick and easy.
If you have already divested both your super and bank you can still take action for Divest December. Please start by sharing a divestment testimonial here.
As a community we have the power to change the big banks and the big supers. Take action with us this December, so we can protect the irreplaceable.
References:
[1] Where does Australia's gas come from? And where can we expect new gas projects? Climate Council, 02/08/2021.
[2] Protect the Pilliga. Wilderness Society, accessed 15/11/2021.
[3] ‘Nothing off limits’: offshore gas and oil exploration area 5km from Twelve Apostles. Sydney Morning Herald, 15/06/2021.
[4] ‘The distance from Perth to London’: How a gas company cleared the Kimberley. Sydney Morning Herald, MAY 10, 2021.
[5] “Unstoppable transition:” Australia can hit 91% renewables by 2030. Renew Economy, 13 October 2021.
[6] Funding Climate Failure: How Australia’s big banks are undermining the Paris Agreement and net zero by 2050. Market Forces, accessed 25/11/2021.
