UPDATE: Following decisions to divest from fossil fuels by the Auckland and Waiapu Dioceses, the following dioceses have  divestment motions coming up for consideration:

  • Wellington (21-22 Sept) – STOP PRESS: Wellington has also voted to divest
  • Dunedin (27 Sept)
  • Waikato and Taranaki (28-29 Sept)

Main Story

In a major boost for the growing fossil fuels divestment campaign, the Auckland Diocese of the Anglican Church has become the first New Zealand institution to decide to divest from fossil fuels.

As reported by the Anglican Communion News Service: http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2013/09/auckland-diocese-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels.aspx:

the Diocesan Synod voted overwhelmingly to support a motion calling on the diocese to withdraw its investments from companies whose main business is the extraction and/or production of fossil fuels.


The divestment motion was co-sponsored by Revd Mathew Newton of St Paul Symond’s Street and the Diocesan Climate Change Action Group. It asks the diocese to sell off any remaining fossil fuel holdings within 2 years.

Similar motions calling for fossil fuel divestment are being put to other Anglican dioceses during the next few weeks, and the Waiapu Diocese has subsequently passed a divestment motion. Matheson Russell, who initiated this process within the Church, has written about it for the Anglican Church publication Taonga: http://www.anglicantaonga.org.nz/News/Common-Life/Auckland-challenged-on-fossil-fuels

Here are three excellent videos on the issues to watch and share:

CANA welcomes this important first step in getting New Zealand institutions to divestfrom fossil fuels. We hope that other Anglican dioceses, other churches and faith groups, and other New Zealand institutions make the same decision. Work is already going on both in front of and behind the scenes to put pressure on other institutions todivest, and we expect this announcement to be the first of many.

To get involved in other fossil fuel divestment campaigns in Aotearoa/NZ, check out 350.0rg.nz’s Go Fossil Free page: http://gofossilfree.org/nz/