Not so long ago, Mayor de Blasio announced his intent to divest from Big Oil and sue fossil fuels. Similarly, the great city of London has been edging toward fossil fuel divestment too.
Now, in an opinion piece for The Guardian, the mayors of these two cities are coming together to challenge other cities to step up:
As mayors, we are not only committed to taking bold action to tackle climate change and to improve the lives of those we represent, but also to showing others the way. That’s why, ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit in California, we are calling on other cities to stand with us to divest their assets from fossil fuel companies. Today we are announcing a new global initiative for cities on divestment and sustainable investment. Working through the C40 Climate Leadership Group, London and New York will co-chair the Cities Divest/Invest forum, a global network for cities that will not only enable us to share tools, knowledge and experiences, but also to advocate for action on divestment and green investment.
This is encouraging. I've long argued that divestment and investment must go hand in hand to be effective. And I've also argued that individual moves to divest are only effective if they encourage larger shifts in the wider markets.
By taking such a public stance, and by encouraging an alliance of other forward thinking cities, mayors de Blasio and Khan are sending a very powerful signal about what it means to be a progressive, forward looking city in this day and age. Given both the immense costs of inaction, and the huge economic opportunity of embracing solutions, the time is now for deciding where you stand.
I'm very glad to see New York and London standing together for what's right.
