God is going green 鈥� or trying to. Investing in fossil fuels is no longer an option for the World Council of Churches.
Last week the umbrella organisation that represents 345 member churches across 110 nations . The WCC hopes members will follow its example.
While the move can be seen as a shift towards greater climate change awareness by the church, the decision alone arguably doesn鈥檛 mean much as the WCC has no fossil fuel investments at present. Some of its members do, however.
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For example, fossil fuels form the second-largest chunk of the Church of England鈥檚 portfolio 鈥� .
The church labelled climate change an 鈥渦rgent ethical issue鈥� in a statement addressing environmental issues released earlier this year.
No easy task
In the statement, the Church of England said an updated investment policy would be published in 2015, but Reverend Richard Burridge, head of its ethical investment board, said that divesting fossil fuels won鈥檛 be an easy task. 鈥淐arbon emissions remain so embedded in our economic system that the ethical investment policy recommendation will need to be sophisticated.鈥�
Even if the church does decide to pull out, it won鈥檛 make much of a dent in the industry, says of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment in London. 鈥淭he Church of England鈥檚 investments are a very small sum in comparison to how much money companies are committing to searching for new reserves.
鈥淣evertheless it鈥檚 important that that some investors are making decisions based on long-term viewpoints 鈥� regardless of whether it鈥檚 a matter of risk or ethics,鈥� he says.
Melanie Mattauch of the climate activism group 350.org , is more upbeat. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the financial impact that鈥檚 most important in this case, but that the WCC central committee represents so many churches across the world,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e think it鈥檚 very likely that quite a few churches are going to divest as a result of this decision.鈥�
