Better investment in renewable sources

Nov 13, 2015

In advance, Cardinal Turkson also offered brief comments and took questions at a press conference at the Jesuit Santa Clara University, located 40 miles south of San Francisco.

At the brie? ng, America asked Cardinal Turkson about Catholic institutions that have investments in fossil fuel companies and whether — in light of the urgency of the situation — traditional shareholder advocacy is still an effective strategy for change, or whether he would favour divestment.

Cardinal Turkson said the Vatican has no of? cial stance on divestment, but he has read about religious congregations in the United States that have divested from the fossil fuel industry.

“That probably explains one of the tensions, one of the dif? culties we had, even before the encyclical was published,” he said. “We got a lot of communication mail from businesses in the United States, knowing that the publication of the encyclical was certainly going to have a negative impact on coal mining.”

He mentioned Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private-sector coal company, as one of several groups who communicated their concerns to the Vatican.

Initially, the shift to renewable sources “appears to be something that will bring a lot of losses to business,” the cardinal said. “But in fact, those who have tried already talk about better investments, better proceeds in their shift to renewable energies.” -- America