Today, on World Environment Day, Norway’s Parliament unanimously approved a decision to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from companies with more than 30% of their income from coal extraction or coal power.

According to calculations from campaign group urgewald, the divestment decision will affect investments in 150 companies worth approximately $13.3 billion (NOK 106.2 billion) of the fund’s current investments, which are worth in excess of $900 billion.

“With Norway’s decision, coal divestment has gone mainstream highlighting both the moral imperative and financial case for divestment”, said Nicolo Wojewoda, lead campaigner for 350.org‘s European team.

“Other institutions are left with no excuse to not follow suit. Coal is on its last leg; with king coal falling from its throne, we are all more inspired to go after big oil and gas.”

A coalition of civil society organizations including Greenpeace, WWF, Future in Our Hands, urgewald and 350.org hailed the decision as a critical first step out of fossil fuels by one of the world’s most oil-dependent economies, adding:

“Norway’s decision to divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal adds momentum to the growing global movement for climate action. This raises the bar for politicians to make further commitments – globally, as well as in Norway itself.”

Now, invest 5% in renewables!

They also promised to continue campaigning for the fund’s full divestment from all fossil fuels as well as increased investments in renewable energy: “Divestment from coal must be the first step for Norway, not the last. We will campaign for the fund to invest at least 5% of its value in renewables, particularly in emerging economies, and for full divestment from all fossil fuels.

“For Norway itself, our goal is a just transition out of oil and gas and into the green jobs of the future. We are rapidly approaching the time when no country can rely on fossil fuels for its economy or energy safety.”

The fund’s Ethical Council and its manager, the Bank of Norway, will now be tasked with developing regulations to implement the divestment decision, and the group of NGOs will be keeping close track of its actions and the precise wording it employs.

“These regulations will be critical to ensuring rapid, transparent and comprehensive implementation of this historic decision. Other investors, and civil society, will be watching closely to see if Norway can match its bold decision with equally bold and decisive action”, say the civil society organizations.

Pressure builds on other funds

A number of funds are in the firing line for their failure to divest from fossil fuels, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation which are targetted by the Guardian‘s ‘keep it in the ground‘ campaign.

350.org is now moving its focus to ABP, Holland’s biggest pension fund, which has 2.8 million beneficiaries and has investments worth some €344 billion: “With your help, we believe we can nudge the world’s third largest pension fund, the ABP, to divest from all fossil fuels.

“Just last week, their Chair Corien Wortmann got a tough grilling from a popular Dutch news anchor. She was asked repeatedly to respond to the growing @ABPfossielvrij campaign calling on them to divest from fossil fuels.”

On Monday this week London’s City Hall was targetted in a protest by Reclaim the Power to denounce the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s dismissal of the call from Divest London and the London Assembly call to divest their £4.8bn pension fund from oil, coal and gas, and his outspoken support for fracking.

Taking the Mayor at his word that “no stone should be left unfracked” they erected a 30ft tripod masquerading as a fracking drill directly outside City Hall and superglued themselves to the front of the building (see photo) while the noise of a fracking drill was relayed through loudspeakers.

In another victory for divestment campaigners, Oxford University voted last month to divest its £1.7 billion endowment fund from all direct holdings in coal and oil sands.

Further reading: Analysis of the direct consequences of the divestment decision for the holdings of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Today, on World Environment Day, Norway’s Parliament unanimously approved a decision to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from companies with more than 30% of their income from coal extraction or coal power.

According to calculations from campaign group urgewald, the divestment decision will affect investments in 150 companies worth approximately $13.3 billion (NOK 106.2 billion) of the fund’s current investments, which are worth in excess of $900 billion.

“With Norway’s decision, coal divestment has gone mainstream highlighting both the moral imperative and financial case for divestment”, said Nicolo Wojewoda, lead campaigner for 350.org‘s European team.

“Other institutions are left with no excuse to not follow suit. Coal is on its last leg; with king coal falling from its throne, we are all more inspired to go after big oil and gas.”

A coalition of civil society organizations including Greenpeace, WWF, Future in Our Hands, urgewald and 350.org hailed the decision as a critical first step out of fossil fuels by one of the world’s most oil-dependent economies, adding:

“Norway’s decision to divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal adds momentum to the growing global movement for climate action. This raises the bar for politicians to make further commitments – globally, as well as in Norway itself.”

Now, invest 5% in renewables!

They also promised to continue campaigning for the fund’s full divestment from all fossil fuels as well as increased investments in renewable energy: “Divestment from coal must be the first step for Norway, not the last. We will campaign for the fund to invest at least 5% of its value in renewables, particularly in emerging economies, and for full divestment from all fossil fuels.

“For Norway itself, our goal is a just transition out of oil and gas and into the green jobs of the future. We are rapidly approaching the time when no country can rely on fossil fuels for its economy or energy safety.”

The fund’s Ethical Council and its manager, the Bank of Norway, will now be tasked with developing regulations to implement the divestment decision, and the group of NGOs will be keeping close track of its actions and the precise wording it employs.

“These regulations will be critical to ensuring rapid, transparent and comprehensive implementation of this historic decision. Other investors, and civil society, will be watching closely to see if Norway can match its bold decision with equally bold and decisive action”, say the civil society organizations.

Pressure builds on other funds

A number of funds are in the firing line for their failure to divest from fossil fuels, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation which are targetted by the Guardian‘s ‘keep it in the ground‘ campaign.

350.org is now moving its focus to ABP, Holland’s biggest pension fund, which has 2.8 million beneficiaries and has investments worth some €344 billion: “With your help, we believe we can nudge the world’s third largest pension fund, the ABP, to divest from all fossil fuels.

“Just last week, their Chair Corien Wortmann got a tough grilling from a popular Dutch news anchor. She was asked repeatedly to respond to the growing @ABPfossielvrij campaign calling on them to divest from fossil fuels.”

On Monday this week London’s City Hall was targetted in a protest by Reclaim the Power to denounce the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s dismissal of the call from Divest London and the London Assembly call to divest their £4.8bn pension fund from oil, coal and gas, and his outspoken support for fracking.

Taking the Mayor at his word that “no stone should be left unfracked” they erected a 30ft tripod masquerading as a fracking drill directly outside City Hall and superglued themselves to the front of the building (see photo) while the noise of a fracking drill was relayed through loudspeakers.

In another victory for divestment campaigners, Oxford University voted last month to divest its £1.7 billion endowment fund from all direct holdings in coal and oil sands.

Further reading: Analysis of the direct consequences of the divestment decision for the holdings of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Today, on World Environment Day, Norway’s Parliament unanimously approved a decision to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from companies with more than 30% of their income from coal extraction or coal power.

According to calculations from campaign group urgewald, the divestment decision will affect investments in 150 companies worth approximately $13.3 billion (NOK 106.2 billion) of the fund’s current investments, which are worth in excess of $900 billion.

“With Norway’s decision, coal divestment has gone mainstream highlighting both the moral imperative and financial case for divestment”, said Nicolo Wojewoda, lead campaigner for 350.org‘s European team.

“Other institutions are left with no excuse to not follow suit. Coal is on its last leg; with king coal falling from its throne, we are all more inspired to go after big oil and gas.”

A coalition of civil society organizations including Greenpeace, WWF, Future in Our Hands, urgewald and 350.org hailed the decision as a critical first step out of fossil fuels by one of the world’s most oil-dependent economies, adding:

“Norway’s decision to divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal adds momentum to the growing global movement for climate action. This raises the bar for politicians to make further commitments – globally, as well as in Norway itself.”

Now, invest 5% in renewables!

They also promised to continue campaigning for the fund’s full divestment from all fossil fuels as well as increased investments in renewable energy: “Divestment from coal must be the first step for Norway, not the last. We will campaign for the fund to invest at least 5% of its value in renewables, particularly in emerging economies, and for full divestment from all fossil fuels.

“For Norway itself, our goal is a just transition out of oil and gas and into the green jobs of the future. We are rapidly approaching the time when no country can rely on fossil fuels for its economy or energy safety.”

The fund’s Ethical Council and its manager, the Bank of Norway, will now be tasked with developing regulations to implement the divestment decision, and the group of NGOs will be keeping close track of its actions and the precise wording it employs.

“These regulations will be critical to ensuring rapid, transparent and comprehensive implementation of this historic decision. Other investors, and civil society, will be watching closely to see if Norway can match its bold decision with equally bold and decisive action”, say the civil society organizations.

Pressure builds on other funds

A number of funds are in the firing line for their failure to divest from fossil fuels, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation which are targetted by the Guardian‘s ‘keep it in the ground‘ campaign.

350.org is now moving its focus to ABP, Holland’s biggest pension fund, which has 2.8 million beneficiaries and has investments worth some €344 billion: “With your help, we believe we can nudge the world’s third largest pension fund, the ABP, to divest from all fossil fuels.

“Just last week, their Chair Corien Wortmann got a tough grilling from a popular Dutch news anchor. She was asked repeatedly to respond to the growing @ABPfossielvrij campaign calling on them to divest from fossil fuels.”

On Monday this week London’s City Hall was targetted in a protest by Reclaim the Power to denounce the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s dismissal of the call from Divest London and the London Assembly call to divest their £4.8bn pension fund from oil, coal and gas, and his outspoken support for fracking.

Taking the Mayor at his word that “no stone should be left unfracked” they erected a 30ft tripod masquerading as a fracking drill directly outside City Hall and superglued themselves to the front of the building (see photo) while the noise of a fracking drill was relayed through loudspeakers.

In another victory for divestment campaigners, Oxford University voted last month to divest its £1.7 billion endowment fund from all direct holdings in coal and oil sands.

Further reading: Analysis of the direct consequences of the divestment decision for the holdings of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Today, on World Environment Day, Norway’s Parliament unanimously approved a decision to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from companies with more than 30% of their income from coal extraction or coal power.

According to calculations from campaign group urgewald, the divestment decision will affect investments in 150 companies worth approximately $13.3 billion (NOK 106.2 billion) of the fund’s current investments, which are worth in excess of $900 billion.

“With Norway’s decision, coal divestment has gone mainstream highlighting both the moral imperative and financial case for divestment”, said Nicolo Wojewoda, lead campaigner for 350.org‘s European team.

“Other institutions are left with no excuse to not follow suit. Coal is on its last leg; with king coal falling from its throne, we are all more inspired to go after big oil and gas.”

A coalition of civil society organizations including Greenpeace, WWF, Future in Our Hands, urgewald and 350.org hailed the decision as a critical first step out of fossil fuels by one of the world’s most oil-dependent economies, adding:

“Norway’s decision to divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal adds momentum to the growing global movement for climate action. This raises the bar for politicians to make further commitments – globally, as well as in Norway itself.”

Now, invest 5% in renewables!

They also promised to continue campaigning for the fund’s full divestment from all fossil fuels as well as increased investments in renewable energy: “Divestment from coal must be the first step for Norway, not the last. We will campaign for the fund to invest at least 5% of its value in renewables, particularly in emerging economies, and for full divestment from all fossil fuels.

“For Norway itself, our goal is a just transition out of oil and gas and into the green jobs of the future. We are rapidly approaching the time when no country can rely on fossil fuels for its economy or energy safety.”

The fund’s Ethical Council and its manager, the Bank of Norway, will now be tasked with developing regulations to implement the divestment decision, and the group of NGOs will be keeping close track of its actions and the precise wording it employs.

“These regulations will be critical to ensuring rapid, transparent and comprehensive implementation of this historic decision. Other investors, and civil society, will be watching closely to see if Norway can match its bold decision with equally bold and decisive action”, say the civil society organizations.

Pressure builds on other funds

A number of funds are in the firing line for their failure to divest from fossil fuels, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation which are targetted by the Guardian‘s ‘keep it in the ground‘ campaign.

350.org is now moving its focus to ABP, Holland’s biggest pension fund, which has 2.8 million beneficiaries and has investments worth some €344 billion: “With your help, we believe we can nudge the world’s third largest pension fund, the ABP, to divest from all fossil fuels.

“Just last week, their Chair Corien Wortmann got a tough grilling from a popular Dutch news anchor. She was asked repeatedly to respond to the growing @ABPfossielvrij campaign calling on them to divest from fossil fuels.”

On Monday this week London’s City Hall was targetted in a protest by Reclaim the Power to denounce the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s dismissal of the call from Divest London and the London Assembly call to divest their £4.8bn pension fund from oil, coal and gas, and his outspoken support for fracking.

Taking the Mayor at his word that “no stone should be left unfracked” they erected a 30ft tripod masquerading as a fracking drill directly outside City Hall and superglued themselves to the front of the building (see photo) while the noise of a fracking drill was relayed through loudspeakers.

In another victory for divestment campaigners, Oxford University voted last month to divest its £1.7 billion endowment fund from all direct holdings in coal and oil sands.

Further reading: Analysis of the direct consequences of the divestment decision for the holdings of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Today, on World Environment Day, Norway’s Parliament unanimously approved a decision to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from companies with more than 30% of their income from coal extraction or coal power.

According to calculations from campaign group urgewald, the divestment decision will affect investments in 150 companies worth approximately $13.3 billion (NOK 106.2 billion) of the fund’s current investments, which are worth in excess of $900 billion.

“With Norway’s decision, coal divestment has gone mainstream highlighting both the moral imperative and financial case for divestment”, said Nicolo Wojewoda, lead campaigner for 350.org‘s European team.

“Other institutions are left with no excuse to not follow suit. Coal is on its last leg; with king coal falling from its throne, we are all more inspired to go after big oil and gas.”

A coalition of civil society organizations including Greenpeace, WWF, Future in Our Hands, urgewald and 350.org hailed the decision as a critical first step out of fossil fuels by one of the world’s most oil-dependent economies, adding:

“Norway’s decision to divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal adds momentum to the growing global movement for climate action. This raises the bar for politicians to make further commitments – globally, as well as in Norway itself.”

Now, invest 5% in renewables!

They also promised to continue campaigning for the fund’s full divestment from all fossil fuels as well as increased investments in renewable energy: “Divestment from coal must be the first step for Norway, not the last. We will campaign for the fund to invest at least 5% of its value in renewables, particularly in emerging economies, and for full divestment from all fossil fuels.

“For Norway itself, our goal is a just transition out of oil and gas and into the green jobs of the future. We are rapidly approaching the time when no country can rely on fossil fuels for its economy or energy safety.”

The fund’s Ethical Council and its manager, the Bank of Norway, will now be tasked with developing regulations to implement the divestment decision, and the group of NGOs will be keeping close track of its actions and the precise wording it employs.

“These regulations will be critical to ensuring rapid, transparent and comprehensive implementation of this historic decision. Other investors, and civil society, will be watching closely to see if Norway can match its bold decision with equally bold and decisive action”, say the civil society organizations.

Pressure builds on other funds

A number of funds are in the firing line for their failure to divest from fossil fuels, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation which are targetted by the Guardian‘s ‘keep it in the ground‘ campaign.

350.org is now moving its focus to ABP, Holland’s biggest pension fund, which has 2.8 million beneficiaries and has investments worth some €344 billion: “With your help, we believe we can nudge the world’s third largest pension fund, the ABP, to divest from all fossil fuels.

“Just last week, their Chair Corien Wortmann got a tough grilling from a popular Dutch news anchor. She was asked repeatedly to respond to the growing @ABPfossielvrij campaign calling on them to divest from fossil fuels.”

On Monday this week London’s City Hall was targetted in a protest by Reclaim the Power to denounce the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s dismissal of the call from Divest London and the London Assembly call to divest their £4.8bn pension fund from oil, coal and gas, and his outspoken support for fracking.

Taking the Mayor at his word that “no stone should be left unfracked” they erected a 30ft tripod masquerading as a fracking drill directly outside City Hall and superglued themselves to the front of the building (see photo) while the noise of a fracking drill was relayed through loudspeakers.

In another victory for divestment campaigners, Oxford University voted last month to divest its £1.7 billion endowment fund from all direct holdings in coal and oil sands.

Further reading: Analysis of the direct consequences of the divestment decision for the holdings of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Today, on World Environment Day, Norway’s Parliament unanimously approved a decision to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from companies with more than 30% of their income from coal extraction or coal power.

According to calculations from campaign group urgewald, the divestment decision will affect investments in 150 companies worth approximately $13.3 billion (NOK 106.2 billion) of the fund’s current investments, which are worth in excess of $900 billion.

“With Norway’s decision, coal divestment has gone mainstream highlighting both the moral imperative and financial case for divestment”, said Nicolo Wojewoda, lead campaigner for 350.org‘s European team.

“Other institutions are left with no excuse to not follow suit. Coal is on its last leg; with king coal falling from its throne, we are all more inspired to go after big oil and gas.”

A coalition of civil society organizations including Greenpeace, WWF, Future in Our Hands, urgewald and 350.org hailed the decision as a critical first step out of fossil fuels by one of the world’s most oil-dependent economies, adding:

“Norway’s decision to divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal adds momentum to the growing global movement for climate action. This raises the bar for politicians to make further commitments – globally, as well as in Norway itself.”

Now, invest 5% in renewables!

They also promised to continue campaigning for the fund’s full divestment from all fossil fuels as well as increased investments in renewable energy: “Divestment from coal must be the first step for Norway, not the last. We will campaign for the fund to invest at least 5% of its value in renewables, particularly in emerging economies, and for full divestment from all fossil fuels.

“For Norway itself, our goal is a just transition out of oil and gas and into the green jobs of the future. We are rapidly approaching the time when no country can rely on fossil fuels for its economy or energy safety.”

The fund’s Ethical Council and its manager, the Bank of Norway, will now be tasked with developing regulations to implement the divestment decision, and the group of NGOs will be keeping close track of its actions and the precise wording it employs.

“These regulations will be critical to ensuring rapid, transparent and comprehensive implementation of this historic decision. Other investors, and civil society, will be watching closely to see if Norway can match its bold decision with equally bold and decisive action”, say the civil society organizations.

Pressure builds on other funds

A number of funds are in the firing line for their failure to divest from fossil fuels, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation which are targetted by the Guardian‘s ‘keep it in the ground‘ campaign.

350.org is now moving its focus to ABP, Holland’s biggest pension fund, which has 2.8 million beneficiaries and has investments worth some €344 billion: “With your help, we believe we can nudge the world’s third largest pension fund, the ABP, to divest from all fossil fuels.

“Just last week, their Chair Corien Wortmann got a tough grilling from a popular Dutch news anchor. She was asked repeatedly to respond to the growing @ABPfossielvrij campaign calling on them to divest from fossil fuels.”

On Monday this week London’s City Hall was targetted in a protest by Reclaim the Power to denounce the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s dismissal of the call from Divest London and the London Assembly call to divest their £4.8bn pension fund from oil, coal and gas, and his outspoken support for fracking.

Taking the Mayor at his word that “no stone should be left unfracked” they erected a 30ft tripod masquerading as a fracking drill directly outside City Hall and superglued themselves to the front of the building (see photo) while the noise of a fracking drill was relayed through loudspeakers.

In another victory for divestment campaigners, Oxford University voted last month to divest its £1.7 billion endowment fund from all direct holdings in coal and oil sands.

Further reading: Analysis of the direct consequences of the divestment decision for the holdings of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Today, on World Environment Day, Norway’s Parliament unanimously approved a decision to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from companies with more than 30% of their income from coal extraction or coal power.

According to calculations from campaign group urgewald, the divestment decision will affect investments in 150 companies worth approximately $13.3 billion (NOK 106.2 billion) of the fund’s current investments, which are worth in excess of $900 billion.

“With Norway’s decision, coal divestment has gone mainstream highlighting both the moral imperative and financial case for divestment”, said Nicolo Wojewoda, lead campaigner for 350.org‘s European team.

“Other institutions are left with no excuse to not follow suit. Coal is on its last leg; with king coal falling from its throne, we are all more inspired to go after big oil and gas.”

A coalition of civil society organizations including Greenpeace, WWF, Future in Our Hands, urgewald and 350.org hailed the decision as a critical first step out of fossil fuels by one of the world’s most oil-dependent economies, adding:

“Norway’s decision to divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal adds momentum to the growing global movement for climate action. This raises the bar for politicians to make further commitments – globally, as well as in Norway itself.”

Now, invest 5% in renewables!

They also promised to continue campaigning for the fund’s full divestment from all fossil fuels as well as increased investments in renewable energy: “Divestment from coal must be the first step for Norway, not the last. We will campaign for the fund to invest at least 5% of its value in renewables, particularly in emerging economies, and for full divestment from all fossil fuels.

“For Norway itself, our goal is a just transition out of oil and gas and into the green jobs of the future. We are rapidly approaching the time when no country can rely on fossil fuels for its economy or energy safety.”

The fund’s Ethical Council and its manager, the Bank of Norway, will now be tasked with developing regulations to implement the divestment decision, and the group of NGOs will be keeping close track of its actions and the precise wording it employs.

“These regulations will be critical to ensuring rapid, transparent and comprehensive implementation of this historic decision. Other investors, and civil society, will be watching closely to see if Norway can match its bold decision with equally bold and decisive action”, say the civil society organizations.

Pressure builds on other funds

A number of funds are in the firing line for their failure to divest from fossil fuels, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation which are targetted by the Guardian‘s ‘keep it in the ground‘ campaign.

350.org is now moving its focus to ABP, Holland’s biggest pension fund, which has 2.8 million beneficiaries and has investments worth some €344 billion: “With your help, we believe we can nudge the world’s third largest pension fund, the ABP, to divest from all fossil fuels.

“Just last week, their Chair Corien Wortmann got a tough grilling from a popular Dutch news anchor. She was asked repeatedly to respond to the growing @ABPfossielvrij campaign calling on them to divest from fossil fuels.”

On Monday this week London’s City Hall was targetted in a protest by Reclaim the Power to denounce the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s dismissal of the call from Divest London and the London Assembly call to divest their £4.8bn pension fund from oil, coal and gas, and his outspoken support for fracking.

Taking the Mayor at his word that “no stone should be left unfracked” they erected a 30ft tripod masquerading as a fracking drill directly outside City Hall and superglued themselves to the front of the building (see photo) while the noise of a fracking drill was relayed through loudspeakers.

In another victory for divestment campaigners, Oxford University voted last month to divest its £1.7 billion endowment fund from all direct holdings in coal and oil sands.

Further reading: Analysis of the direct consequences of the divestment decision for the holdings of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Today, on World Environment Day, Norway’s Parliament unanimously approved a decision to divest the country’s sovereign wealth fund from companies with more than 30% of their income from coal extraction or coal power.

According to calculations from campaign group urgewald, the divestment decision will affect investments in 150 companies worth approximately $13.3 billion (NOK 106.2 billion) of the fund’s current investments, which are worth in excess of $900 billion.

“With Norway’s decision, coal divestment has gone mainstream highlighting both the moral imperative and financial case for divestment”, said Nicolo Wojewoda, lead campaigner for 350.org‘s European team.

“Other institutions are left with no excuse to not follow suit. Coal is on its last leg; with king coal falling from its throne, we are all more inspired to go after big oil and gas.”

A coalition of civil society organizations including Greenpeace, WWF, Future in Our Hands, urgewald and 350.org hailed the decision as a critical first step out of fossil fuels by one of the world’s most oil-dependent economies, adding:

“Norway’s decision to divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal adds momentum to the growing global movement for climate action. This raises the bar for politicians to make further commitments – globally, as well as in Norway itself.”

Now, invest 5% in renewables!

They also promised to continue campaigning for the fund’s full divestment from all fossil fuels as well as increased investments in renewable energy: “Divestment from coal must be the first step for Norway, not the last. We will campaign for the fund to invest at least 5% of its value in renewables, particularly in emerging economies, and for full divestment from all fossil fuels.

“For Norway itself, our goal is a just transition out of oil and gas and into the green jobs of the future. We are rapidly approaching the time when no country can rely on fossil fuels for its economy or energy safety.”

The fund’s Ethical Council and its manager, the Bank of Norway, will now be tasked with developing regulations to implement the divestment decision, and the group of NGOs will be keeping close track of its actions and the precise wording it employs.

“These regulations will be critical to ensuring rapid, transparent and comprehensive implementation of this historic decision. Other investors, and civil society, will be watching closely to see if Norway can match its bold decision with equally bold and decisive action”, say the civil society organizations.

Pressure builds on other funds

A number of funds are in the firing line for their failure to divest from fossil fuels, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation which are targetted by the Guardian‘s ‘keep it in the ground‘ campaign.

350.org is now moving its focus to ABP, Holland’s biggest pension fund, which has 2.8 million beneficiaries and has investments worth some €344 billion: “With your help, we believe we can nudge the world’s third largest pension fund, the ABP, to divest from all fossil fuels.

“Just last week, their Chair Corien Wortmann got a tough grilling from a popular Dutch news anchor. She was asked repeatedly to respond to the growing @ABPfossielvrij campaign calling on them to divest from fossil fuels.”

On Monday this week London’s City Hall was targetted in a protest by Reclaim the Power to denounce the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s dismissal of the call from Divest London and the London Assembly call to divest their £4.8bn pension fund from oil, coal and gas, and his outspoken support for fracking.

Taking the Mayor at his word that “no stone should be left unfracked” they erected a 30ft tripod masquerading as a fracking drill directly outside City Hall and superglued themselves to the front of the building (see photo) while the noise of a fracking drill was relayed through loudspeakers.

In another victory for divestment campaigners, Oxford University voted last month to divest its £1.7 billion endowment fund from all direct holdings in coal and oil sands.

Further reading: Analysis of the direct consequences of the divestment decision for the holdings of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Not so long ago, summer skies used to hum furiously with bees busy pollinating our strawberries, carrots and cucumbers. Gardens across Britain were a-buzz with the sound of wild bees pollinating our flowers and many of the food and plants we rely on.

But over the last few years, the numbers of bees and other wild pollinators have been declining and our wider web of wildlife is suffering – most of all in the countryside, where bees are under attack from several fronts.

Modern farming methods mean many fewer wildflowers, so food for bees is much scarcer than it used to be. And while some crops are rich nectar sources, they only offer the bees ‘feast or famine’ – and most of the time, it’s famine. Meanwhile  bee diseases like the deadly Varroa mite have spread much further, and so bees are often hit with diseases they have limited resistance to.

Meanwhile new insecticides – chief among them the neonicotinoids, super-toxic variants of the nicotine found in tobacco – have been introduced which poison and kill bees in huge swathes. Scientific research has proven beyond doubt that the ‘neonics’ are highly toxic to bees even at very low concentrations, and most especially to wild species such as bumblebees.

So strong is the evidence that in January 2013 the European Food Safety Authority announced that neonicotinoids pose “an unacceptable risk” to bees, and in April the EU approved a two-year moratorium on the most damaging uses of three of the chemicals, to take effect in December.

As Prof Dave Goulson, professor of biology at the University of Sussex, put it: “In short, bees are hungry, diseased and poisoned.”

Now the UK Government may try to lift from the ban

Despite all the evidence, the UK Government opposed the EU moratorium in 2013, apparently caving in to the powerful commercial farming lobby. And now it’s considering lifting the ban on these pesticides here in the UK.

A few weeks ago the government received an application from the National Farmers Union (NFU) for a neonicotinoid ‘derogation’ – an emergency licence to use the banned insecticides, to allow them to be sprayed on oilseed rape crops this summer.

The NFU claims that it has to use the pesticides to kill off a pest of oilseed rape, the cabbage stem flea beetle, in order to prevent widespread crop losses. But in fact, current predictions are for a good oilseed rape harvest – even under the moratorium.

This application follows a similar application by Syngenta last summer to break the EU-wide ban and introduce neonicotinoids back onto UK fields. That attempt led to a outcry from scientists and the public. But only following a huge petition and a swarm on Parliament by 38 Degrees members and other bee campaigners, was the application withdrawn.

Syngenta, Bayer, and other chemical companies keen to peddle their neonicotinoids to UK farmers often claim that the evidence around bee decline and neonicotinoids is unclear. But it’s nothing of the sort. Indeed new evidence has only shown that they are even more dangerous that previously supposed.

Earlier this year the European Academies Science Advisory Council concluded that these banned pesticides don’t just kill bees, they wreak “havoc” with other insects and plants in the wider countryside too. This followed earlier work published in July 2014 showing that the impact of neonics reverberated through the entire food chain, even hitting bird populations.

But despite all the evidence, the companies are still clamouring to make a profit selling their toxic chemicals to farmers, supporting the application for the derogation.

It’s OK, says ‘expert’ committee

This time around, the Expert Pesticide Committee advised the agriculture department, Defra, that “the criteria for an emergency authorisation …  were met.” But paradoxically, they added that if the neonics are allowed, they would “encourage the applicant to take the opportunity provided by practical use of the product to gather further data on risks to bees.” 

This is at best a very feeble defence of the unacceptable – by a committee of which three members have close links to the bee-killing pesticide companies Syngenta and Bayer.

The scientific evidence on the danger of these pesticides to wild bees is already clear – if these pesticides are allowed back on our fields, bees will start dying. Yet the committee are encouraging that the application goes ahead – and hoping that the NFU will voluntarily undertake scientific research to assess the impact on bees. If the matter weren’t so grave, their recommendation would be comical.

These pesticide companies are desperate to break the ban and get their toxic products back on UK fields. They may have the money to make a lot of noise, but we have something their cash can’t buy: people power. When we stand together, we stand for the interests of the many over the few.

There are only a couple of weeks for the government to make its decision on this derogation application before it will be too late for the seeds to be treated and planted with the toxic chemicals in time for a harvest later this year.

So we have just a few weeks to show the government that if it grants the derogation, it will be not only going against science, but it will also be going against public opinion too.

290,000 have already signed the petition

Already, over 290,000 38 Degrees members have signed a petition to push Liz Truss, Secretary of State for the Environment to reject the application and keep the ban.

And this afternoon, 38 Degrees member Pat is delivering the petition to her MP Liz Truss – the Secretary of State for the Environment – and will ask her directly to save our bees and deny the NFU’s application.

People-power protected our bees last time an application to thwart the EU-wide ban on neonics was made. Now, we need to pull out all the stops again. The environment minister needs to hear that she needs to protect our bees, not the toxic profits of bee-killing chemical companies.

This is the first big test for Environment Secretary Liz Truss in the new Parliament. The battle to protect the bees is a symbol of the bigger challenge we face when we fight to protect the environment.

This is a fight about bees, wildlife, the countryside we all hold dear and long-term sustainability over short-term profit. Which side are you on?

Email Liz Truss today: 38degrees.org.uk/save-our-bees

Nat Whalley is a Campaigns Manager at 38 Degrees and founder of the London International Development Network, an informal place to share development news, views, events and career opportunities. she has also worked for Save the Children, SoClick and Avaaz. In her spare time you can find her singing with her  show choir or playing the saxophone about town.

This year the Resurgence annual Summer Camp takes place from Thursday 30 July until Sunday 2 August 2015.

We hope you’ll join us for this joyful weekend at Green and Away, near Worcester. The summer camp is an opportunity to be inspired, learn, discuss, explore ideas, recharge and rest in a ‘small corner of paradise’.

Throughout the weekend there will be talks by Resurgence & Ecologist contributors, workshops, music, craft and performance, with time for networking, discussions, walks, or simply enjoying the beautiful site, nestled near a woodland and the river.

The gathering is a small, friendly camp with a maximum of 140 people. All food is provided (3 meals a day) – vegetarian, cooked on site using organic, local produce where possible and lovingly prepared by the Green and Away team.

Green and Away have created a unique outdoor conference facility – the perfect space to exchange ideas about sustainable living and solutions to our current crisis.

You can read more about Green and Away and their innovative site powered by the wind and sun here. If you’d prefer not to camp, Green and Away provide luxury accommodation in a selection of yurts and bell tents.

Programme outline for the weekend

Speakers
Matt Harvey, author and poet
Joe Hoare, laughter coach: awakening the laughing Buddha
Satish Kumar, Editor-in-Chief, Resurgence & Ecologist
Nicola Peel, Eyes of Gaia
Alex Nunn, Action for Happiness

Workshops
Qi Kong – Dong Sticks (bamboo stick exercises): June Mitchell
Harmony Singing around the fire: Janne Tooby and Toni Gilligan
Indian Raga and embodied voicework: Will Tooby

Music

Carolyn Hiller and Nigel Shaw
Sika
Open mic – share a poem, song, instrument or dance

Performance
Philip Ralph: The One Eyed Man
Miti Desai: Indian Dance

Booking
Weekend tickets, including all food: £160
You can book ticket online on the Resurgence website.
For enquiries, please call 01237 441293 or email us. 

The Resurgence summer camp is fundraising event for The Resurgence Trust, an educational charity dedicated to raising awareness of the key ecological and spiritual issues of our time. Registered charity no. 1120414.