Commissioners at the highest court of the United Church of Canada urged the denomination’s foundation and General Council executive “to take active steps to sell their holdings in the 200 largest fossil fuel companies” and reinvest the assets in renewable energy.
The decision was endorsed by 67 per cent of the church’s General Council, which met in Corner Brook, N.L., in August.
The United Church of Canada Foundation holds about $2.8 million in fossil fuel investments (about 5 per cent of its portfolio) and the denomination’s treasury holds about $5.9 million in stocks in fossil fuel companies (about 4.7 per cent of its portfolio).
The largest Protestant denomination in Canada joins a number of church bodies divesting from portions of the fossil fuel industry. The Church of England earlier this year announced it would no longer invest in companies that derive more than 10 per cent of their profits from the extraction of thermal coal and oil sands bitumen. The Church of Sweden completed its divestment from fossil fuels last year. And the World Council of Churches has also excluded fossil fuel companies from future investments.
The United Church’s General Council meets every three years.
Photo: Plenary Hall at the United Church of Canada’s 42nd General Council, Corner Brook, Nfld., August 13, 2015. Courtesy of the United Church via Flickr, CC 2.0.
