On Monday evening, we were hosted by Extinction Rebellion's group in the Cape Town South Peninsula. It was the first time we've done an event in person since the beginning of the pandemic, and it was really refreshing to be speaking to people in person again (outside, in a beautiful garden, well-distanced). Our deep thanks to the organisers and host

On Tuesday 11 May, UCT students protested to urge the UCT University Panel on Responsible Investment (UPRI) to make the strongest possible recommendations on fossil fuel divestment.

After years of putting pressure on the University of Cape Town to divest from climate-breaking fossil fuels, the university has at last formally launched its responsible investment panel (the University Panel on Responsible Investment, or UPRI) and approved a Responsible and Sustainable Investment Policy! The UPRI now has a formal website, here.

Our latest campaign is calling on SA’s leading asset managers to create truly fossil fuel-free SA investment funds.

The following was extracted from our 2020 closing newsletter. You can sign up for our newsletters straight to your inbox here.

Letters to the new Council in support of divestment have now been sent by:

• two groups of UCT academics and students, centred on the faculty of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, and Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG)

In support of groundWork's recent request "for a speedy and urgent investigation to arrest and put on trial those responsible for the murder of Mama Fikile Ntshangase", we are sending a follow-up letter to President Ramaphosa and Minister of Police Bheki Cele in support of groundWork and the Somkhele community.

We've been campaigning for UCT to stop investing in climate-breaking fossil fuels for seven years, while hundreds of global institutions have joined the movement. Over the past few months, many people and institutions have written to the new UCT Council in support of divestment.

Fossil Free South Africa and 350 Africa congratulate the City of eThekwini/Durban on becoming the second South African city to commit to phasing out investments in climate-breaking fossil fuels.

We have a significant opportunity for YOU to help progress our campaign asking UCT to start divesting its endowment fund from fossil fuels THIS YEAR, to start to foster a genuinely socially responsible investment industry in South Africa. 

We have always been clear that at the heart of our campaign to halt all investments in climate-breaking fossil fuels, is the pursuit to advance and protect human rights, not just financial capital. 

We're working to create investment funds that invest in a safer climate and secure future for our children.

This year we are launching an additional newsletter, Planet A Investment, for financial professionals.

Last week, we had a conversation amongst ourselves which went something like this:

Last Thursday, UCT's Convocation, the body comprising all alumni and academic staff, passed a vote overwhelmingly in favour (40 votes in favour and 8  against) of our motion calling for divestment from fossil fuels, and amendment calling for UCT to lead a coalition for divestment in South Africa.

May 2019: Protest for divestment on campus

UCT's Convocation, the body comprising all alumni and academic staff, meets on Thursday 12 December 2019 at Kramer Building Lecture Theatre 1, Middle Campus at 17h00 for 17h30. For the second time, we will be proposing a motion on divestment. 

How would you advise people to handle disinvestment with their financial advisors in terms of the funds they are invested in? Would it be a simple "switch all funds out of fossil fuels"...something like that?

The following was sent out to our mailing list in response to the recent gazetting of the integrated resource plan in South Africa. For news straight to your inbox, sign up to our mailing list here

Earlier this month in Cape Town, Financing the Future brought together over 300 leaders from 44 countries focusing on the intersection of climate justice, finance, energy access and social justice.