Divestment - Oil and Gas Companies. Anatomy of Action Challenge by Sofonie Dala - Angola. Day 11

Divestment 

 Actively swap your financial institutions or services to more sustainable options!

Good evening dear friends, 

Welcome to our  program! It's great to have you with us.

Divestment is when people move away from industries that are unsustainable and instead choose investments, banks, energy providers, and other companies that are opting for sustainable options.

Financial institutions provide the capital that funds over-exploitation of land and seas. In 2019, the world’s 50 biggest banks provided $2.6tn in loans and other credit to sectors with a high negative impact on biodiversity, such as forestry and agriculture.

We need to take action to ensure we support those that enables SDG 12 (sustainable consumption and production). Did you know that just 100 companies, all in the oil and gas industry, are responsible for 71% of global carbon emissions? 

The oil and gas industry produces vast amounts of toxic air and water pollution and is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Oil and gas drilling has a serious impact on our wildlands and communities. Drilling projects operate around the clock generating pollution, fueling climate change, disrupting wildlife and damaging public lands that were set aside to benefit all people.

Angola's SONANGOL Accelerates Divestment and Explores Novel Financing Solutions in Response to Energy Transition

Angola’s National Oil Company (NOC) Sonangol has responded to the changing global financial landscape by accelerating its restructuring program and exploring new financial solutions that meet the requirements of today’s international debt market. Today’s market is significantly impacted by considerations about energy transition, which has become a defining factor for most major oil and gas sector lenders.

Financing challenges are not unique to Sonangol, especially as the entire sector emerges from a post COVID-19 slump in 2020 which saw demand and oil prices reach historic lows, including dropping below USD$20/barrel in April 2020. In the U.S. for example, over 107 oil and gas companies filed for bankruptcy, requiring the courts to oversee debt restructuring totalling USD$98 billion under Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules.

As the international community seeks consensus about how to drive energy transition globally, major international banks – including many that are prominently involved in the financing of oil and gas projects – have responded by entering into several agreements, committing to solely finance projects that will attain net-zero emissions between 2030 and 2050. One such agreement is the United Nation’s backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance which represents some of the world’s largest banks from 27 countries with assets of more than US$ 37 trillion.  The Net-Zero Banking Alliance requires its members to curtail lending to the oil and gas sector within the next 36 months, ultimately restricting access to finance for companies like Sonangol.

Restructuring for the future

Under the leadership of its Chairman and CEO, industry veteran Mr. Sebastião Gaspar Martins, Sonangol has accelerated its divestment program which it is hoped, will bring in billions of dollars in much needed financing through the sale of non-core assets.  Revenue from the sale is expected to strengthen the balance sheet of a much leaner and focused exploration and production entity. Over 70 shareholdings held by sonangol in companies across the world, including in real estate, oil and gas services, financial services, tourism, logistics, telecommunications, aviation and some operating blocks are up for sale.

For a cleaner future, it’s critical to reduce fossil fuel drilling on public lands. We need to equitably transition to responsible renewable energy including solar and wind to fulfill our energy needs while preserving our environment and communities.

Fossil fuel divestment

Divestment is the opposite of an investment – it simply means getting rid of stocks, bonds, or investment funds that are unethical or morally ambiguous.

When you invest your money, you might buy stocks, bonds, or other investments that generate income for you. Universities and colleges, religious organizations, retirement funds, and other institutions put billions in these same kinds of investments to generate income to help them run. Fossil fuel investments are a risk for both investors and the planet, so we’re calling on institutions to divest from these companies.

Divestment is also to end to fossil fuel sponsorship. Fossil fuels companies cultivate sponsorship relationships to help create a ‘social licence to operate’. This contributes to the veneer of legitimacy that enables them to keep expanding operations at a time of climate crisis and to stifle the demands for justice of those communities who live on the frontline of their destructive, polluting operations.

Campaigners working toward freeing communities from fossil fuels. The majority of campaigns are asking institutions to:

- Immediately freeze any new investment in fossil fuel companies;

- Divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds within 5 years;

- End their fossil fuels sponsorship.

Fossil fuel divestment takes the fossil fuel industry to task for its culpability in the climate crisis. By naming this industry’s singularly destructive influence — and by highlighting the moral dimensions of climate change — we hope that the fossil fuel divestment movement can help break the hold that the fossil fuel industry has on our economy and our governments.

As more and more people move away from unsustainable institutions, it sends a message to companies to consider their business models and actions to support renewable energy, sustainable technologies, and more responsible products. Therefore, from your retirement fund to your banks, it is crucial to acknowledge what you are supporting inadvertently

The Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity Programme 2022/2023 for social-change leaders (Fully Funded study at London School of Economics and Political Science)

Application Deadline: 10 January 2022 

Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity are activists, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners who believe inequality can be defeated.

Applications for the 2022-23 Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme are now open. The Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme is a transformative experience that emphasises learning, connection and reflection.

Requirements

Who live in the global South (in particular Africa, Far East, the Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent), although this factor will never be considered in isolation.

Who do not otherwise have the resources to finance their participation in activities such as these, especially people from the global South.
Who have not already had significant access to fellowships or scholarships.

Benefits

Residential Fellows receive support from a dedicated LSE academic mentor, from the AFSEE Academic Lead through monthly meetings and regular check-ins, and via further opportunities for engagement offered throughout the year.

The Residential track of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme is a funded fellowship. The fellowship includes full tuition fees, an £19,o00 stipend to cover living costs while in London, any necessary travel expenses to in-person modules, and travel to and from London at the beginning and end of the active fellowship, including reimbursement of visa fees.

Modest financial support is available for Fellows who have family care responsibilities. The programme also has a Resilience Fund to which Fellows can apply in the event of emergencies. 

Click here to apply: https://bit.ly/2WQzh0h

In pictures: The life of Ndakasi, a gorilla who went vira

Ndakasi, a beloved mountain gorilla who went viral after posing for a relaxed selfie with rangers, has died after a long illness aged 14.

She passed away in the arms of one of the rangers who rescued her as a baby, Andre Bauma, at a gorilla orphanage at Virunga – Africa’s oldest national park – in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Bauma rescued Ndakasi as a two-month-old in 2007 after poachers killed her parents. Ndakasi was still clinging to her dead mother when they found her.

With no relatives, rangers decided it was too unsafe to let Ndakasi back out into the wild. She was raised at the orphanage, where Mr Bauma is the manager.

Ndakasi shot to global fame in 2019 when she and another female mountain gorilla, Ndeze, photobombed a selfie taken by another ranger.

They were trying to imitate the rangers who raised them, a park official said.

IMAGE SOURCE,RANGER MATHIEU SHAMAVU

Image caption,In the selfie, the gorillas were apparently trying to imitate humans

The rangers and gorillas had grown close. Speaking to the BBC in 2014, Mr Bauma said he loved Ndakasi as if she were his daughter.

“We shared the same bed, I played with her, I fed her… I can say I am her mother.”

Mountain gorillas live mostly in forests in national parks in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. But climate change, poachers and human encroachment pose threats to their survival.

Eastern DR Congo, where Virunga is located, is mired in conflict between the government and various armed groups. Some of these armed groups are based in the park, where they often poach animals.

IMAGE SOURCE,VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK

On Thursday, Mr Bauma said that getting to know Ndakasi had “helped me to understand the connection between humans and great apes and why we should do everything in our power to protect them”.

“I loved her like a child,” he said, adding: “Her cheerful personality brought a smile to my face every time I interacted with her.”

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Liberia’s capital dirtiest in Africa – EU diplomat

The head of the European Union mission in Liberia says he is appalled by how “dirty” and “disgusting” the capital, Monrovia is, despite donors pouring in aid to clean it up and improve living conditions.

Laurent Delahousse told a forum organised by the Monrovia City Council that he was ”a bit surprised” by what he saw when he arrived a year ago.

“Monrovia is a disgusting city, it is a dirty city,” he said.

“Of all the capitals I have seen in my previous posts in Africa, I have not seen one that is as dirty as yours,” he added.

He went on to urge city officials to address the crisis, and to account for the money received from donors and the taxes collected from businesses.

“A clean city is an asset; it create jobs and probably that is what Liberia needs most,” he said.

The straight-talking envoy joined other speakers in telling the city council that decorating Monrovia every now and again was not enough when the issue of sanitation remained a serious problem.

The mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson Koijee, who is also the chairman of the youth wing of the governing CDC party, told the forum that waste management in the over-crowded city was a major challenge.

But with more support from donor partners like the European Union they would continue to tackle the problem, he said.

There has been huge support from the donor community for the upkeep of Monrovia over the years, but the city has remained filthy with heaps of rubbish seen all over the place and some remaining on the streets for weeks.

Getty Images Copyright: Getty Images

Monrovia is located along the coast Image caption: Monrovia is located along the coast

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South Korean air force officer’s death sees 15 people charged

Fifteen people have been charged in South Korea over the death of an air force officer who alleged sexual abuse by a colleague and took her own life.

Dozens of air force officials will also face disciplinary action, including for trying to cover up the case.

It had sparked a public outcry and the air force chief resigned in June.

Separately, a court ruled the military had unlawfully discriminated against a transgender soldier who was forced to quit and was later found dead at home.

The cause of death of Byun Hee-soo, South Korea’s first transgender soldier, has not officially been given but it is reported she took her own life.

South Korea’s military has been questioned for a number of years over its failure to protect female personnel.

Amid a number of sexual abuse cases involving the military, lawmakers this year passed legislation requiring them to be addressed by civilian courts.

• South Korea soldier: ‘Criminal because I’m gay’

‘Heavy responsibility’

In March, the air force master sergeant had been returning by car to base from a dinner meeting when she was allegedly abused in the vehicle by a male colleague.

She reported the case to superior officers, but the investigation found that they tried to cover up the incident and force her into a private settlement with the colleague.

She took her own life in May.

President Moon Jae-in apologised over the case and accepted the resignation of Chief of Staff Gen Lee Seong-yong, who said he took “heavy responsibility” for the officer’s death.

A male master sergeant was arrested in June over the abuse allegation and legal proceedings continue.

President Moon ordered the investigation after hundreds of thousands signed a petition over the case.

In addition to those charged, dozens more will face disciplinary action.

Issues will include trying to cover up the case, trying to pressure the woman to reach a private settlement with her abuser and the destruction or leaking of evidence.

‘No grounds for dismissal’

In the second case, a court in Seoul ruled that Staff Sgt Byun Hee-soo had been wrongfully discharged and her dismissal should be annulled.

It said the military’s classification of her gender reassignment surgery as a disability was highly discriminatory.

Staff Sgt Byun, 23, had launched a landmark legal challenge against the military in January last year after her request for transfer to the female corps was rejected and she was dismissed.

She died in March this year.

The Daejeon District Court ruled there were “no mental or physical disability grounds for dismissal”.

Transgender people are unable to join South Korea’s military, but there is no specific law on gender reassignment operations for serving personnel.

Activists welcomed the latest ruling, saying it gave grounds for hope among sexual minorities.

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Afghanistan war: Services mark 20th anniversary of UK operations

Commemorations have been held to mark the 20th anniversary of the start of UK military operations in Afghanistan.

Wreaths were laid in memory of the 457 British personnel killed during the conflict.

UK troops left Afghanistan at the end of August, bringing an end to the 20-year war.

“The hurt never goes away,” said Claire Hill, whose only son James was killed in 2009. “We have to believe he did make a difference.”

The war in Afghanistan began on 7 October 20 years ago, with American-led coalition airstrikes against airports and terrorist training camps, in response to the 11 September terror attacks in the US.

Two small wreath-laying ceremonies took place place at 07:30 BST, intended by the Ministry of Defence to honour “the courage and commitment of its people” during the two decades of conflict.

• What has changed in Afghanistan in 20 years
• ‘Betrayed’: The Afghans who feel left behind
• Fighting off hunger under the Taliban

Wreaths dedicated to those who lost their lives in combat in Afghanistan were laid at the Bastion Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

At the same time, another wreath was laid at the Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial near the Ministry of Defence in central London.

Piper Major Colour Sgt Peter Grant, who led the procession in Staffordshire, said the service was an important moment to reflect on what had happened in Afghanistan.

Speaking before the service, he told the BBC that having served in Afghanistan, it was “quite emotional” to see the names of people he knew on the wall of the Bastion memorial.

Sgt Grant, who also served as the lone piper at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, said: “It gives me the opportunity to reflect on my time out there, think about the people who have lost their lives, the soldiers who are living with life-changing injuries and also the families who are living through the pain and hardship of losing people out there.”

The commemoration comes as veterans and their families try to reckon with the legacy of the war, having watched the Taliban swiftly regain control of Afghanistan as UK and US forces withdrew.

Nearly 12 years to the day since L/Cpl James Hill died, his parents Claire and Brian are proud of his service and sacrifice, but also acknowledge the pain of seeing the Taliban return.

IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA

Image caption,RAF trumpeter Sgt Matt Peck, who served in Afghanistan, said it “meant the world” to him to be able to play The Last Post at the ceremony

Image caption,Mr Heappey reflected at the Bastion memorial, which mirrors the memorial wall at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, in Afghanistan

IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA

Image caption,Piper Major Colour Sgt Peter Grant led the procession at the service

“If we were to say that James’ life is wasted then that would hurt us all over again, because we have to believe he did make a difference,” said Mrs Hill. “They all gave so much. Not just the ones who died but the ones who carry on with injuries.”

James was 23 and about to get married when he was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

“It never leaves us, we don’t have a son anymore. We don’t have any other children. There’s an emptiness, there’s a hole here that nothing can fill,” Mrs Hill said. “The hurt never goes away.”

“Remembrance Day for most people is 11 November, but for the likes of us Remembrance Day is every day,” said Mr Hill.

Stuart Tootal – a former colonel who commanded 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment – saw the first serious casualties of the war when he led British troops into Helmand in 2006, and a simple peace support operation became a bloody counter-insurgency conflict.

Image caption,“There is no victory here, ” says Stuart Tootal, whose battalion suffered 15 deaths in the first major casualties of the war

His view of the war now is very clear: “The intent of what we were trying to do was always right. The concept was flawed: too little, too late. And we quit far too soon.

“And that is the great tragedy of Afghanistan.”

While Afghanistan had 20 years to see how life could be different, Mr Tootal adds that the opportunity was never fully realised because the Taliban regained power.

“I don’t think we can be very proud of the outcome. We can be proud of what we tried to do as soldiers,” he said.

“But in terms of those responsible for the strategic decisions, I don’t think there’s a great deal to crow about… There is no victory here. You know, we did not win that conflict.”

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