The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship voted last week to divest its endowment of fossil fuel extraction investments during the Fellowship’s national gathering in Stony Point, N.Y. The PPF endowment is invested at the New Covenant Trust Company of the Presbyterian Foundation.
“We are divesting of fossil fuels precisely because we are a peacemaking organization,” said Emily Brewer, the Fellowship’s co-director in a press release. “For our children, grandchildren and those who come after them, unmitigated climate change will lead to a future of war and violence over access to drinkable water, breathable air, safe food and diminishing land. We sound this alarm to reduce that violence. Already some impoverished communities, least responsible for climate change, are early victims of it. On this most complex issue, we act out of faith in a creator God and a love for creation itself.”
In addition to divestment, the PPF affirmed the need to create numerous strategies for reducing greenhouse gases and a focus on helping families whose livelihood depends on fossil fuel extraction.
“Our investments will remain at the New Covenant Trust Company. They have been extremely helpful to us,” said Jan Orr-Harter, Endowment Fund Chair. “The next step is to sit down with them to design an investment screen to prevent extraction company stock buys that is compatible with other screens on our fund. They have created a model for fossil fuel screens for a Florida congregation. We will start by looking at that and hope to have this system in place by Advent.”
The Fellowship was founded in 1944 and its membership consists of Presbyterians across the country who seek to reduce worldwide violence and war. For more information on the Fellowship and opportunities for involvement, go to presbypeacefellowship.org.