The Rockefeller Family Fund confirms it is divesting from fossil fuels. “It makes little sense, financially or ethically, to continue to invest in these companies.”
And so a circle closes. The heirs of John D. Rockefeller — one of the wealthiest men ever to have lived in the United States, who owed his fortune to Standard Oil — are officially divesting from fossil fuel investments. A process that "will be completed as quickly as possible".
The process began back in September 2014, during the Climate Summit 2014, and is confirmed today in a statement released by the foundation, which explains its decision as follows: "As the global community works to eliminate the use of fossil fuels, it makes little sense, financially or ethically, to continue to invest in these companies. There is no logic for companies to continue to explore new sources of hydrocarbons."
We can no longer be associated with a company that has such a blatant disregard for the public interest.
But there is more. Martha, John, Laurance, Nelson and David Rockefeller consider ExxonMobil's conduct "morally reprehensible", as "it appears the company has been working since 1980 to confuse the public about the advance of climate change, while simultaneously spending millions to strengthen its own infrastructure against the destructive consequences of climate change, charting new exploration opportunities in the Arctic as the ice melted."
They add: "It will be for the relevant authorities to determine whether the company has broken the law, but as a matter of good governance, we can no longer be associated with a company that has such a blatant disregard for the public interest." The signs are certainly all there: from Arab countries, dependent on oil, that are investing in renewables, to Shell itself, which last February announced that the company will cease "offshore drilling activities in Alaska for the foreseeable future".
"History moves on," the statement concludes. "Indeed, it is time for all people of goodwill to do what is within their power to make our new path one that recognises the profound interdependence between the future of humanity and the health of our natural systems."