The City of Chicago has introduced a divestment ordinance into City Council on February 23rd, 2022. 350 Chicago has worked alongside city council members for seven years, pushing for the City to divest from fossil fuels. While the City has divested $70 million from fossil fuels in the operating budget over the last 18 months, the ordinance would codify City divestment into law, ensuring future administrations will honor this commitment. Overall, the City will be eliminating 225 companies in the fossil fuel industry from its portfolio, based on the declining value of their in-ground assets and potential losses due to the transition to a clean energy economy.

Global warming poses an existential threat to the residents of Chicago, the US, and the world. The city faces the current realities and grave future threats of more frequent extreme weather events, flooding, air and water pollution, social disruption, and increased health risks; indeed, the City of Chicago has declared a state of Climate Emergency. Thus, fossil-fuel investment has direct and indirect negative impacts on the fiscal, social, and physical health of the city. At the same time, Chicago has international obligations, per the Paris Agreement and the Chicago Climate Charter. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that global CO2 emissions would have to fall about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 and reach ‘net zero’ by 2050 in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C (per IPCC Summary for Policymakers).

Fossil fuel divestment is an important part of a multi-pronged effort to curb emissions. Divesting from fossil fuels illustrates the City’s recognition of the profound health impacts of fossil fuel emissions on frontline communities in Chicago, as well as the City’s regional and international commitments.

350 Chicago is heartened by the City’s commitment to divest from fossil fuels. The City has a responsibility to protect the lives and livelihoods of its inhabitants from the threat of climate change, and so fossil fuel divestment is morally responsible. It’s also a smart economic move, protecting the city from the well-documented risks of investing in the volatile and withering fossil-fuel market, especially the oil and gas sector often performing at the bottom of the S&P 500 Index. In January of 2020, mainstream CNBC financial commentator Jim Cramer identified the fossil fuel industry with the tobacco industry. He indicated such investments are on a downslide similar to the earlier de-based investments in the tobacco industry on moral and then ultimately economic grounds. “I’m done with fossil fuels,” Cramer proclaimed, “I’m done . . . We are starting to see divestment all over the world . . . We are seeing big pension funds saying, ‘we’re not going to own them anymore.’” These risks were recently confirmed by the U.S. Treasury, the G7 as well as the COP26. After decades of fiscal mismanagement, the City is clearly correcting its course. Fossil fuel divestment is an integral part of this new era of fiscal as well as social responsibility.

We are proud that Chicago, the third most populous U.S. city, will be joining a growing list of local, regional, and national governments refusing to finance a greedy, destructive, and fundamentally corrupt industry. Thirty-eight U.S. cities and over 1500 institutions have already divested from fossil fuels. Divestment is working. We imagine a future in which the City of Chicago becomes a leader in the fight against climate change. Divesting City assets from fossil fuel companies is a necessary step in the right direction.

Thank you to the City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and her staff for helping to draft the ordinance; Mayor Lori Lightfoot for introducing the ordinance; and 49th ward Alderwoman Maria Hadden, 1st Ward Alderman Daniel La Spata, 12th ward Alderman George A. Cardenas, and 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack for sponsoring the ordinance. Thank you also to all the alders and allies who have supported us in the past seven years, and, of course, our very own 350 Chicago leaders and members.

But our work is not finished . . . be ready to join 350 Chicago in a day of action to contact your Alderperson and ask them to vote for the Divestment Ordinance. Pay attention to your email and 350 Chicago’s social media pages for more information.

Thank you,

The 350 Chicago Divestment Team