ANYONE for divestment?

How are your investments doing? You probably have more than you think, if you look at where your money goes.

Chances are that, if you are contributing to or receiving a pension, have a bank account or other savings, or drive a car, you are contributing to climate change.

That’s what many investments do, even if we are not aware of it.

But there are things each one of us can do. We can demand divestment, which means removing or reducing investment in those things that are most harmful to us; in this case our climate.

Or, perhaps more importantly, their climate – our children’s and grandchildren’s climate.

We have heard about the need to reduce our carbon footprint, like not buying or investing in stuff that makes the greenhouse gases which are over-heating the planet.

But that footprint doesn’t stand still; it moves. Stuff isn’t just produced, it has to be made with energy and materials that come from somewhere else, and some of it is then exported again – it travels, as we see from the words “Supply Chain” on the side of lorries on the motorway.

This whole process adds even more to the output of greenhouse gases.

There is a campaign at the moment to face up to this “moving footprint”.

Some MPs want to get the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (www.ceebill.uk) debated in Parliament so that we tackle the issue of producing goods - including the whole supply chain - from start to finish.

To make sure that the Bill goes through Parliament (and it may not), write to your MP (www.writetothem.com) now and ask for their support.

You can also contact your pension provider and your bank (some are worse than others, climate-wise), and demand that they divest from fossil-fuels. You might even join a protest movement. You could face a busy autumn!

SIGURD REIMERS

Grandparents for a Safe Earth