Stockholm, Sweden will purge $3.5 million worth of investments from oil, coal and gas companies, following a yearlong push from anti-fossil fuel crusaders.
Sockholm’s promise to divest was a notable one, though not surprising, as Sweden receives the bulk of its energy from nuclear power (nearly 30 percent) and hydroelectric power (43 percent), not fossil fuels (9.5 percent). To that point: The promise could be perceived by some divestment critics as a mere symbolic move to appease protestors.
The move comes on the heels of a nearly two-year campaign from protestors, as well as the more recent global Break Free movement, which was labeled by environmentalists such as Bill McKibben as the world’s largest civil disobedience movement.
“Stockholm’s decision to divest from companies driving the climate crisis demonstrates that it’s no longer morally acceptable to invest in or support business as usual for the fossil fuel industry,” Andrew Maunder, a spokesman with Fossil Free Stockholm, said in a press statement.
“This year has seen unparalleled climate action with thousands of people taking to the streets, joining civil disobedience to keep Vattenfall’s coal in the ground and making creative calls for divestment,” said Christian Tengblad, an organizer at Sweden’s chapter of the McKibben-created divestment group 350.org.
Swedish power-company Vattenfall came under fire in May, when more than 4,000 people obstructed one of the company’s lignite mines and power plants in Germany for two days during the Break Free movement. Vattenfall succumbed to the pressure by signing an agreement to sell its lignite operations to Czech energy company EPH.
Tengblad added: “As our capital city takes a stand against oil, coal, and gas, our national government needs to follow suit and take responsibility for its carbon reserves by making sure the state-owned lignite in Germany never gets burned.”
Not all of the Break Free movement protests and rallies were as successful as the one against Sweden’s Vattenfall.
A Break Free 2016 event in Colorado, for instance, which featured McKibben, advocated the state move away from fossil fuels, and natural development in particular, and move toward fully renewable energy sources.
Prior to the McKibben event, Break Free 2016 claimed the rally would be the largest mass mobilization for climate action ever in Colorado. The rally received less than 100 protesters.
Follow Chris on Facebook and Twitter
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.