As much as I admire many of the people working towards divestment from fossil fuel companies, I think the whole movement is defeatist. Great, you convince your university endowment fund, pension fund, etc to divest -- now what? Now those shares will be bought and controlled by an institution that is immune from popular pressure. Who wins here? Nobody.
On the other hand, if instead of agitating for divestment, the students/workers/activists were to ask for proxy votes, then we could put up a real fight at shareholder meetings. Sure, we might not have enough power to elect board members in the early stages, but nothing builds a movement more than meeting up with like-minded people and confronting the enemy face to face. It would provide a forum for activists to make connections with one another, grow the movement, and get excited about the possibility of fighting climate change by being an engaged citizen.
It's heart-breaking to me to see so much support given to this divestment movement -- I've never seen any of the major figures involved give a justification for why we should be divesting rather than fighting the corporations head on. Especially since proxy fights have a history of driving movement growth in the US. Divestment is a retreat. If climate change is really as much of a threat as most of us know it to be, then retreating should not be an option.
I have had a similar reaction before. But I think the alternative you offer is too rosy. There seems very little chance that shareholder activism will be able to stop oil companies looking for oil - that is their sole purpose and to a large degree their sole expertise.
And there is a point to make that many fossil fuel assets will be stranded, and made worthless, if we do manage to limit emissions enough to stay below an increase of 2-3 degrees Celsius. The Bank of England and the IMF are both talking about this being another subprime issue. The divestment of pension funds, major charities and other similar organizations gives a better, more accurate sense of jeopardy – 'by all means, invest in these stocks, but bear in mind that you are taking a gamble, and don't be surprised if your investment goes belly up' and it also means that if such a retrenchment takes place the burden will fall on speculative private capital rather than important and structural social institutions.
I would like to read more discussion about the issue, though.
On the other hand, if instead of agitating for divestment, the students/workers/activists were to ask for proxy votes, then we could put up a real fight at shareholder meetings. Sure, we might not have enough power to elect board members in the early stages, but nothing builds a movement more than meeting up with like-minded people and confronting the enemy face to face. It would provide a forum for activists to make connections with one another, grow the movement, and get excited about the possibility of fighting climate change by being an engaged citizen.
It's heart-breaking to me to see so much support given to this divestment movement -- I've never seen any of the major figures involved give a justification for why we should be divesting rather than fighting the corporations head on. Especially since proxy fights have a history of driving movement growth in the US. Divestment is a retreat. If climate change is really as much of a threat as most of us know it to be, then retreating should not be an option.