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We need to "revoke the social license of the fossil fuel industry."
- Environmentalist Bill McKibben
A "social license" is built upon legitimacy, credibility, and trust. Fossil fuel companies have a social license in the eyes of the public that allows them to:
Heavily influence and fund politics to stop us from progressing to a greener future.
Continue to expand their operations globally while destroying our planet.
Fuel the climate denial and misinformation movement (which they created in the 1980s).
Commitment from a school to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy in some fashion makes a social statement that the educational Institution does not support fossil fuel companies operating in the manner they currently are. It demonstrates to the students and wider public that actions are being taken and should be taken against climate change.
This statement, backed up by the schools transitioning their actual investments, is why it's impactful. We seek to publicize all forms of divestment and reinvestment.
Our current cycle needs to be broken.
By divesting and reinvesting, we can strip the "social license" from fossil fuel companies
Our high schools, while educating the people of tomorrow and empowering us to create a brighter future, are simultaneously profiting off of companies that are destroying this future.
Why Reinvest?
"Around $3.5 trillion a year of capital investment will be needed on average between now and 2050 to build a net-zero global economy, up from $1 trillion per annum today."
Continuous reinvestment in cleantech drives its innovation, expansion, and implementation in society. As such, we must invest in cleantech at an unprecedented scale in order to hit our Net Zero targets. All institutions need to develop an innovative and nuanced green finance strategy, and transfer capital from the past into our collective future.
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