On Tuesday 9th May, 350Africa.org and Fossil Free South Africa are launching a Cape Town divestment campaign. We want the city to support more than just an environmental call, but a political, economic and moral one as well.  

The fossil fuel divestment movement is growing globally, with over 719 institutions, pension funds, universities and faith-based organisations having committed to divest,  including over 100 other cities worldwide.

Divestment is not new to South Africa. It was a central component of the anti-apartheid campaign and proved to be a hugely important tactic against the apartheid regime and those that supported it.

Divestment against apartheid was significant for two reasons. Firstly, it highlighted the individual and collective moral imperative to oppose apartheid itself and second, to expose the apartheid system as inherently unsustainable and destructive to the majority of the people and the country. As such, the divestment movement empowered ordinary citizens and individuals around the world to voice their opposition to an oppressive and unjust system, to place economic and social pressure on those who invested in it, and to become involved in a bigger movement for change.

The same thing can now be said of the fossil fuel divestment movement. Its motivations are strikingly parallel: a moral imperative to act against those who profit from exploitation and societal destruction and to mobilise climate justice fighters across the world to take individual and collective action.

The climate change crisis is one of the biggest challenges of our time. We are increasingly experiencing devastating floods, drought and rising temperatures, which are felt through (amongst other things) water shortages, food price hikes and increasing numbers of climate migrants. With low levels of water left, the Western Cape government has declared Cape Town a disaster area for the next three months. The Mother City is facing a long-term water crisis where the supply of fresh water will not be able to meet demand by 2019.  

The fossil fuel divestment movement stands for a just transition away from dirty and harmful fossil fuel energy.

Now is the time for action!

The divestment movement of the 21st century gives each one of us an opportunity to make a difference and become climate fighters for developmental justice. Join us for the launch!

When: 9 May 2017

Where: 129 Rochester Road, Observatory, Cape Town, 7705, South Africa (AIDC Offices)

Time: 18:00-20:30

RSVP: Click here.