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To all those gathered in Davos — for Earth’s sake, invest in renewables and divest from fossil fuels

Geoff Davies
By Geoff Davies
18 Jan 2024
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Kill our planet and no amount of money will save you. All our priorities should be to preserve and protect the well-being of Earth, not just to make money. This might sound like heresy to some at Davos, but I believe you hold the key to our future survival and well-being.

To the participants at the World Economic Forum: as you know, fossil fuels have been crucial in the “development” of our “civilisation” over the past century, and we have become dependent on them for the functioning of our industries and lifestyle. But have we not now realised that the energy we need is electricity, not oil or gas?

At the 28th COP, fossil fuels were at last named as guilty, albeit in a weakened resolution. But are we not stark raving mad to continue using and exploring for more fossil fuels, though we know the consequences?

You must know the cost of the damage caused by weather extremes across the globe, be that from heat and wildfires, or excessive freezing conditions, or droughts or floods or hurricanes. It runs into billions of dollars. These have all happened with temperature increases of at least 1.3°C. What will it be like at 1.5°C, never mind 2°C, which we will reach unless we take meaningful action?

Why did we not have a stronger resolution at COP28? There is one simple answer — because of the money involved in fossil fuels, we are prepared to destroy the prospects for our children and the life of the planet for our wealth.

Read more in Daily Maverick: COP28 news hub

So let us be clear about two principles. First, we are entirely dependent on the well-being of this planet, obviously our only home. Kill the planet and no amount of money will save you.

The second follows on: all our activities, all our energies, all our priorities, should be to preserve and protect the well-being of the planet and the people and life on it, not just to make money.

This might sound like heresy to some at Davos, but I approach you as I believe you hold the key to our future survival and well-being.

What do I mean by this? We know we can now generate all the energy we need through renewable means. Some countries are already doing this. Therefore, all investments must be to develop this infrastructure and none for fossil fuels, except to close down fossil-fuel infrastructure.

Change your worldview


You will recall that at the early stages of the Covid shutdown, people in India could see the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. The atmosphere was cleaner and clearer.

We cannot bring back glaciers or refreeze the Antarctic or parts of Greenland, but we can halt the ongoing melting of glaciers, halt the rising oceans, reduce the danger of the Gulf Stream changing course and bringing Newfoundland temperatures to Britain. And giving hope to the next generation.

Satish Kumar from Schumacher College summarised in The Guardian what many of us know we need to do. Change our worldview. Nature is not just a resource for the economy, nature is life itself, and we humans are not separate from nature. We are part of nature, and nature is a living organism.

James Lovelock called this Gaia — a self-maintaining, self-correcting organism. And recognise that the economy of nature is cyclical. Today we have a linear industrial economy — use it and throw it away. That is why we have oceans full of plastic, rivers full of sewage and an atmosphere full of greenhouse gases.

So, participants of Davos, please direct and encourage future investments to be made in planetary health and social well-being.

And let every business and country embark on this. COP28 was a huge disappointment in not being stronger regarding our need to change direction, but that does not stop us from doing so.

Let every country and every investment company invest in renewable energy and divest from fossil fuels. Soon the fossil fuel industry will start disintegrating — for the future benefit of life on Earth.

Fossil fuel fixation


I am writing from South Africa, where our whole coastline has been opened to seismic exploration at a time when the world recognises that we have to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and when the International Energy Agency has stated that we have more known fossil fuel resources than we can safely burn, so why explore for more? 

In Namibia, fracking exploration has been undertaken in the Okavango Delta region, a unique and irreplaceable wildlife preserve. In Uganda and Tanzania, the well-being of well over 100,000 people is threatened by the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop). Running through the heart of East Africa, this 1,445km pipeline would be the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world. This could make investors and banks a lot of money, while destroying the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people and threatening unique wildlife reserves such as the Murchison Falls National Park.

On what basis do I make this appeal? I am an Anglican bishop, long involved in environmental and social justice. I am guided by Biblical principles and ethics and I recognise the principles of evolution.

At the end of the first chapter of Genesis we read “God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good”. We are told to care for and look after this amazing planet of life - Genesis 2:15: “And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it”. John’s Gospel 3:16: “For God so loved the world…”.

In Greek the word is cosmos. God loves this whole creation, not just us humans. The Old Testament prophets all call for justice: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream”. (Amos 5:24).

God also called for equity. When Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness, God fed them with bread from heaven. Moses commanded them to gather as much as each needed: “The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. But when they measured it… those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.” (Exodus 16:16-17).

Inequity continues to be a major cause of injustice and suffering in our world, impacting both socially and on the environment. The current inequities are quite abhorrent. Do CEOs and top sports players need to receive quite so much? Surely a Roger Federer or Tiger Woods excelled for the prestige and not the cash?

Jesus Christ calls for compassion and love as overriding principles: “Love the Lord your God” and “Love your neighbour as yourself”.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught that God’s will should be done on Earth as it is already done in heaven. God is deeply concerned that there should be justice, love and peace on Earth. We would find peace if we followed these moral precepts. DM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk

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