Divesting responsibly from fossil fuels

We need to phase-out fossil fuels. How we do this matters.

People and justice must be at the centre of the fossil fuel phase-out. To advance a truly just energy transition, AIDA, SDN, and SOMO developed the International Principles for Responsible Divestment from Fossil Fuels.

The urgent need to quit fossil fuels must go hand in hand with responsible divestment. Rapid and responsible phase-out are not mutually incompatible agendas. Both are vital to achieve climate and environmental justice in the energy transition.

For too long, profits have flowed to the fossil fuel industry, while environmental damage and livelihood losses have disproportionately affected front-line and historically marginalised communities. Rectifying this imbalance is inseparable from the just transition. The defining question of the energy transition is, therefore, not only whether we exit oil, gas and coal extraction, but also how we do so.

For that reason, we are putting forward the International Principles for Responsible Divestment from Fossil Fuels, directed at companies and governments to advance a just energy transition. Complementing existing guidance on responsible exit by providing a people-centred approach to the phase-out, these principles are rooted in the demands of communities and workers affected by fossil fuel activities around the world. They demand that companies take responsibility for the impacts of years of extraction and the consequences of the phase-out. They also ensure that the costs of high-risk and toxic oil, coal, and gas assets are not offloaded onto producer countries and communities.

Dive into the principles

The International Principles for Responsible Divestment from Fossil Fuels are available below in several languages. Support the principles by adding your voice to the growing list of organisations endorsing the principles for a responsible shift away from fossil fuels. Sign up with your organisation!

How to use these principles in your work

Organisations are already using the International Principles for Responsible Divestment from Fossil Fuels in a range of ways. Here are some concrete suggestions for how you can put them into action:

• Demand action from governments: Incorporate (some of) the principles in advocacy efforts towards national laws, policy developments, and planning for phasing out fossil fuels.
• Hold companies accountable: Use the principles to frame your demands and expectations in direct engagement with companies exiting fossil fuel projects (as well as those that are not yet planning to exit but should be).
• Advocate internationally: Refer to the principles in submissions to intergovernmental bodies such as the UN, as well as regional institutions.
• Spread the idea: Refer to them in reports, media outputs, and other publications that prioritise justice and public interests in the transition.
• Make it your own: Further develop individual principles or a group of principles to reflect context-specific cases of project closure and sale of fossil fuel assets.

Add your voice

If you think that people and justice should be at the centre of the energy transition, add your organisation to the growing coalition calling for responsible divestment from fossil fuels. Your organisation’s name will be displayed on this page.

Organisations supporting this initiative

A growing number of organisations stand behind this initiative and support the call for divesting responsibly from fossil fuels. They include:

• ActionAid Ghana
• AFREWATCH
• African Law Foundation (AFRILAW)
• ALTSEAN-Burma
• BankTrack
• Bargny Coast Waterkeeper
• Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) – Mongolia
• Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental, A.C.
• Circle Economy
• Community Action Against Plastic Waste (CAPws)
• Community Action For Health and Development
• Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN)
• Educar Consumidores
• Endorois Development Initiatives
• FACE Intergenerational Justice
• Fossilfri Fremtid (Fossil Free Future), Denmark