(J.T.A.) — Two coalitions of Jewish communities in Oregon have decided to divest their endowments from the fossil fuel industry due to concerns about the ongoing effects of the climate crisis.
With Wednesday's announcement, the Jewish Federations of Greater Portland and the Jewish Federations of Lane County, which together represent about 60,000 Jews, are among the 146 Jewish federations across North America in oil, It will be the first group to draw investment from gas and coal companies. They have over $3 million in invested assets.
Even though many Jewish groups Actively support climate action and engage in advocacy on this issue, only a handful of Jewish organizations have announced fossil fuel divestment so far. Daenu, a Jewish climate change advocacy organization that made the announcement on behalf of the federation, has been encouraging Jewish organizations to embrace divestment as a tactic to help accelerate the global transition to clean energy. .
“Oregon’s two Jewish federations are leading the way with a common-sense approach to aligning investments with their values and taking meaningful action on climate change,” Daine CEO said. CEO Jenny Rosen said in a statement. “These are the first of what we are sure will be followed by many Jewish community organizations.”
More than 1,600 institutions and organizations around the world have pledged all or part of their climate investments, including hundreds of faith-based organizations. According to a public database that tracks pledges.. Until the new announcement, only three Jewish groups were included in the count: the Reform Movement Pension Plan and the Reform Movement Pension Plan. American Jewish World Service, a worldwide service and assistance group. and Korot Chayeinu, a congregation in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
The Jewish Federation of Portland has concluded that divestment from fossil fuels is consistent with its financial goals and values, according to Hank Kaplan, director of the Jewish Federation of Portland.
“In addition to being a major driver of the climate crisis, fossil fuels are a declining industry, underperforming other markets over the past decade,” Kaplan said in a statement. “Screening out fossil fuels is consistent with our values and history of climate action, and it clearly makes economic sense.”
Dayenu began advocating for divestment after calculating that Jewish community organizations' endowments would be huge in 2022. At least $3 billion was tied up with oil, gas, and coal companies.. Dayenu's initiative comes after Adama, another Jewish environmental advocacy group, formed a new green coalition of Jewish organizations interested in combating climate change.
With support from donors such as the Diane and Guilford Glaser Foundation, these efforts will be completed by early 2023. Putting climate change at the top of the Jewish community's global agenda for the first time.
Oregon's two federations do not directly manage their own investment funds. Instead, they have an account with the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation. The Foundation is a donor-advised fund that directs investments and makes grants on behalf of donors. The Federation has changed its climate-friendly investments by choosing to use a fossil fuel-free pool provided by the Foundation.
Jacob Siegel, climate finance advisor for the City of Daene, said several other donor-advised funds (DAFs) serving Jewish communities across the country offer fossil fuel-free options. “We've been talking to them,” said Jacob Siegel, Daenne's climate finance adviser, adding that the exact number was unclear. Jewish DAFs that “offer or are creating investment options that do not use fossil fuels.”
Siegel said that if donors demand fossil fuel-free options from the organizations they fund their philanthropic efforts with, they could persuade more DAFs to offer that option.
“The goal is not just to change the dollar amount, but to change market signals more generally,” he said.
