Dear Friend,

After the COP26 global climate summit, the polluters and their financial backers are relying on flashy phrases like “net zero” and public relations campaigns to hide the reality of their crimes against people and the planet. But as the climate emergency gets more dire, a global movement is pushing Wall Street to divest from the industries and sectors driving the climate crisis, like fossil fuels and industrial agriculture. Today, I’m reaching out to ask you to join this movement for climate justice with a quick action.

TIAA is a major investor in fossil fuels and fossil fuel infrastructure and the largest owner of industrial farmland and timberland in the world. A manager of retirement funds for over 5 million workers, TIAA presents itself as “committed to our communities.” The reality is much different.

TIAA has an obligation to take urgent and immediate action to stop fueling the climate crisis by shifting its investments. With this petition from the Stop Land Grabs campaign, you and I have a role in pressuring them to take action.

Their land grabs have devastated communities in the Brazilian cerrado. In the most biodiverse savannah in the world, our partners and grantees like Rede Social and the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) have been organizing to win justice for rural peoples facing poisoned groundwater, violent land thefts, and more. These movements have had real victories, but they need our continued solidarity.

TIAA has managed to walk all over Brazilian laws restricting foreign investment to acquire at least 800,000 acres of farmland in Brazil. But thanks to the Stop Land Grabs campaign, this practice has now caught the attention of the Brazilian legal system. Let's keep the momentum going.

Please take a moment and join me signing the Stop Land Grab campaign’s petition.

In solidarity, Chung-Wha Hong Executive Director

P.S. The petition is only the first step. For movements in Brazil and beyond to keep up the fight, they need resources. Please consider donating to our end-of-year solidarity campaign so these movements can keep up the fight in 2022.