FAQ

Divestment: The action of selling off investments, in our case, investments in specific fossil fuel companies not transitioning to green energy.

Learn more on the What page.

Reinvestment: The action of investing In companies that are a part of the green energy transition, whether that be cleantech companies or possibly fossil fuel companies as well.

Learn more on the What page.

• Heavily stigmatizes fossil fuels and the fossil fuel companies that are not investing in the future/the salvation of our planet. These companies are one of the most significant roadblocks to solving climate change (if not the largest).

• Incentivizes and pressures fossil fuel companies to invest in renewable energy and the transition because they see the trillions of dollars being divested from fossil fuels and reinvested in the transition.

• Aligns the school with its mission, empowers the students that change is possible, and in the process, educates the student body and takes a stand by putting their money behind their words.

High schools seek to empower and bring forth a new generation of people to repair our world. At the core of all our problems lies climate change, and we can't solve the countless problems our world faces without solving climate change first. High schools need to align their investments with not only their values but also their students' values. They can create quite a large impact and contribute to the greater fight against climate change by educating and empowering their school community.

Generally, students begin advocating for divestment at their schools by forming a team of passionate students and begin educating themselves. This could be through conversations with members of the hsDivest team, exploring resources or pages on the hsDivestmentCoalition.org website, and/or doing their own independent research. They then learn how their endowment is structured, gauge community interest, and pursue conversations with their school leadership.

We explain this process in greater depth on our next steps page.

Very few secondary institutions have been involved with the divestment process or have already divested. We have built this coalition to have a more persuasive argument for high schools to begin divestment and reinvestment as well as help high schools from around the world begin the process. 

Many colleges have begun divestment, showing us that it is an attainable goal in every level of education. We encourage you to explore this link to see which have.

There are many institutions aside from educational ones that are divesting, such as financial institutions, cities, and countries. Divestment comes in many shapes and sizes, and we encourage you to explore our what page to view a more extensive and varied list of institutions that have divested.