# Synod’s commitment to addressing climate change recognised

> The Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of New South Wales and the ACT, was recently featured in the Divest Invest Faith-Based Guide due to the Synod’s commitment and action to ensure a sustainable climate for future generations.

By Melissa Stewart · 3 January 2017 · News

Canonical: https://insights1.uca.org.au/articles/synod-s-commitment-to-addressing-climate-change-recognised/

The Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of New South Wales and the ACT, was recently featured in the *Divest Invest Faith-Based Guide* due to the Synod’s commitment and action to ensure a sustainable climate for future generations.

The guide was released in conjunction with the webinar both distributed in mid-December by the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network (AEGN) and the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC).

The guide looks at how and why organisations are choosing to divest from fossil fuels and invest in sustainable energy options.

A year on from the ‘historic’ Paris Climate agreement, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon finds the growing number of organisations embracing the divest-invest culture, encouraging.

“It’s clear the transition to a clean energy future is inevitable, beneficial and well underway, and that investors have a key role to play,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The main goal of the Paris agreement is to reduce the greenhouse emissions to limit the global temperature rise to just **1.5°C** to ensure the earth’s sustainability.

Arabella Advisors released an analysis last month that found across 76 countries, 688 institutions and 58,399 individuals have committed to divest from fossil fuels.

This includes faith-based organisations like the Uniting Church and makes up 23% of institutions that have committed to some sort of divestment.

President of Uniting Church in Australia, Stuart McMillian, said that the church has had a long-standing commitment to protecting the environment.

“Christians and all people of faith are called to respect the sacredness of the earth. It is this understanding that shapes our unique contribution to addressing climate change,” said Mr McMillian.

As highlighted in the *Divest Invest Faith-Based Guide*, the NSW and ACT Synod Standing Committee agreed to:

- divest from all stocks that have a greater than 40 per cent net exposure from direct fossil fuel extraction by 19 October 2014 (this has been completed)
- divest from all stocks that have a greater than 25 per cent net exposure from direct fossil fuel extraction by 19 October 2015 (this has been completed)
- divest from all stocks that have a greater than 10 per cent net exposure from direct fossil fuel extraction by 19 October 2016 (yet to be completed, but portfolios currently have no holdings that would need divestment in phase 3).11

You can read the full report **[here.](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/theausinstitute/pages/2682/attachments/original/1519012144/divestment-faithbased-guide-online.pdf)**

**Melissa Stewart**

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