1
00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,237
OK, so I have to make a confession.

2
00:00:08,350 --> 00:00:11,007
Every time I rehearsed this speech,

3
00:00:11,799 --> 00:00:15,036
I got to the point
where I almost started crying.

4
00:00:17,386 --> 00:00:20,292
What I want to talk with you about
moves me a lot.

5
00:00:21,226 --> 00:00:22,789
And what moves me

6
00:00:22,789 --> 00:00:26,452
is the beauty and the power
of people like you and me

7
00:00:27,444 --> 00:00:29,525
standing up together

8
00:00:30,795 --> 00:00:34,475
to solve a problem
that seems impossible to tackle.

9
00:00:35,606 --> 00:00:37,391
This is me a couple of years ago.

10
00:00:38,718 --> 00:00:42,933
I was deeply unsettled
and overwhelmed by global warming.

11
00:00:43,594 --> 00:00:47,965
I knew it was there, but it seemed
very far away and abstract.

12
00:00:48,592 --> 00:00:52,445
And at the same time,
I was closely surrounded by its cause:

13
00:00:53,682 --> 00:00:56,089
our global economic system

14
00:00:56,679 --> 00:01:00,359
that is based on digging out
and burning fossil fuels -

15
00:01:00,678 --> 00:01:02,980
coal, oil and gas -

16
00:01:04,123 --> 00:01:09,374
which holds responsible for two thirds
of our global carbon emissions.

17
00:01:10,810 --> 00:01:13,420
Now, living a normal life in Germany,

18
00:01:13,420 --> 00:01:16,102
I was part of the system every day,

19
00:01:16,102 --> 00:01:21,671
from my consumption to the food I eat,
the travel, like in the picture,

20
00:01:22,546 --> 00:01:24,178
the waste I produce.

21
00:01:25,066 --> 00:01:28,225
In fact, I felt that I was
so much involved in it

22
00:01:28,225 --> 00:01:30,593
that I didn't even have
the right to oppose it.

23
00:01:31,964 --> 00:01:34,516
I was global warming in a way.

24
00:01:34,985 --> 00:01:39,465
And no matter what I would do
to reduce my personal consumption,

25
00:01:39,802 --> 00:01:42,603
it would never be enough
to solve the problem.

26
00:01:44,031 --> 00:01:46,702
I felt helpless when I thought of it,

27
00:01:47,636 --> 00:01:51,345
and so for a long time,
I preferred not to think of it too much.

28
00:01:54,201 --> 00:01:56,107
I'm sure you are aware

29
00:01:56,107 --> 00:02:00,854
that global warming
is an increasingly urgent topic.

30
00:02:02,353 --> 00:02:06,409
It's proceeding much more rapidly
then expected just now,

31
00:02:08,725 --> 00:02:11,381
and although we have no time to lose,

32
00:02:12,412 --> 00:02:15,449
our political leaders don't seem
to take the necessary steps

33
00:02:15,449 --> 00:02:18,158
to break free from those fossil fuels.

34
00:02:18,335 --> 00:02:21,019
Although there are some
pretty good options on the table

35
00:02:21,019 --> 00:02:23,947
like introducing carbon taxes,

36
00:02:25,922 --> 00:02:28,551
ending subsidies
in the fossil fuel industry -

37
00:02:28,551 --> 00:02:30,991
that are really high,
especially in Germany -

38
00:02:32,272 --> 00:02:36,690
or an obligatory carbon footprint label
on all the products that we buy

39
00:02:36,690 --> 00:02:38,339
so we actually have a choice

40
00:02:38,339 --> 00:02:42,165
and we foster competition among companies
to reduce their emissions.

41
00:02:43,747 --> 00:02:45,016
We get none of this.

42
00:02:45,774 --> 00:02:49,173
And this is even more confusing
and unsettling to me.

43
00:02:50,473 --> 00:02:52,359
And I kept asking myself,

44
00:02:53,114 --> 00:02:58,397
"Is there anything I as an individual
can do to open the door to change?"

45
00:03:00,479 --> 00:03:02,157
Well, I found there is.

46
00:03:04,033 --> 00:03:08,018
Two years ago, I signed
a petition at 350.org.

47
00:03:08,702 --> 00:03:11,178
It's a US based NGO

48
00:03:11,815 --> 00:03:15,215
fighting climate change
by building a grassroots movement.

49
00:03:15,914 --> 00:03:18,094
And this movement really excited me.

50
00:03:19,378 --> 00:03:22,980
I saw people taking
creative public action.

51
00:03:23,897 --> 00:03:26,534
They were many,
they were doing it together,

52
00:03:27,326 --> 00:03:31,573
and they didn't at all seem sad
or desperate or aggressive.

53
00:03:32,221 --> 00:03:34,603
They looked like they had a lot of fun.

54
00:03:35,473 --> 00:03:37,981
And I fell in love with that movement.

55
00:03:39,829 --> 00:03:44,605
Now, I have children and I have a job -

56
00:03:44,605 --> 00:03:47,013
I'm a service design strategist -

57
00:03:47,013 --> 00:03:48,560
but at this point,

58
00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:52,394
I didn't at all think about how
I would be able to come up with the time

59
00:03:53,071 --> 00:03:54,596
to put some effort into this.

60
00:03:54,596 --> 00:03:56,763
I just knew I wanted to be part of it.

61
00:03:58,004 --> 00:04:00,447
I wanted to end my paralysis.

62
00:04:01,494 --> 00:04:04,513
On the map of 350.org,
I found Fossil Free Berlin,

63
00:04:04,513 --> 00:04:06,999
which is the local campaign
in the town where I live.

64
00:04:06,999 --> 00:04:08,386
It's a city actually.

65
00:04:10,053 --> 00:04:13,255
When I got to meet these beautiful people,

66
00:04:14,576 --> 00:04:16,710
I learned that their goal

67
00:04:17,138 --> 00:04:22,556
was to get the city of Berlin to divest
its capital reserves from fossil fuels.

68
00:04:23,707 --> 00:04:26,997
Just like you might be right now,
I was asking myself,

69
00:04:27,303 --> 00:04:29,194
What is this 'divestment'?

70
00:04:29,194 --> 00:04:30,631
I had no idea.

71
00:04:31,877 --> 00:04:35,113
But by now, I've found out
three quite amazing things about it

72
00:04:35,113 --> 00:04:37,242
that I want to share with you.

73
00:04:37,242 --> 00:04:38,611
Number one:

74
00:04:39,802 --> 00:04:44,749
Divestment is to pull out our money
from the fossil fuel industry.

75
00:04:45,376 --> 00:04:47,553
It's basically the opposite
of an investment

76
00:04:47,553 --> 00:04:49,300
because the investments that we have

77
00:04:49,300 --> 00:04:55,098
are being withdrawn from companies
that dig out or burn fossil fuels.

78
00:04:55,943 --> 00:05:01,575
Those are companies like Shell, NVE,
BP, ExxonMobil, Total -

79
00:05:01,575 --> 00:05:03,237
you get the picture.

80
00:05:04,383 --> 00:05:06,865
It's basically a boycott, simple as that.

81
00:05:08,047 --> 00:05:09,516
Now you may say,

82
00:05:09,516 --> 00:05:11,309
"That sounds like a good idea,

83
00:05:11,309 --> 00:05:14,150
but I don't even own shares
in these companies."

84
00:05:15,580 --> 00:05:17,764
I also thought that I didn't,

85
00:05:19,101 --> 00:05:21,516
and then I had to found out that I did.

86
00:05:21,904 --> 00:05:25,868
Not because I ever took that decision
and thought it was a really good idea,

87
00:05:25,868 --> 00:05:29,618
but because the ones
who received my money did:

88
00:05:31,026 --> 00:05:34,375
public administration, my bank,

89
00:05:34,659 --> 00:05:38,497
my insurances, my pension fund.

90
00:05:40,032 --> 00:05:42,721
No matter who I give my money to,

91
00:05:43,266 --> 00:05:45,693
some of it goes
to the fossil fuel industry,

92
00:05:45,693 --> 00:05:49,802
in the form of loans, shares,
project finance, bonds.

93
00:05:49,991 --> 00:05:52,625
Today there is almost no exception.

94
00:05:55,388 --> 00:05:57,987
Now, I realized
this makes me a stakeholder,

95
00:05:58,875 --> 00:06:01,591
and as a stakeholder I can interfere.

96
00:06:02,412 --> 00:06:05,519
I can tell them that I don't want this.

97
00:06:06,788 --> 00:06:09,038
Chances are better
if I don't do it on my own

98
00:06:09,038 --> 00:06:11,852
but together with other people
who are in the same position.

99
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,210
And this is how
the divestment movement works:

100
00:06:15,210 --> 00:06:17,414
individuals get together

101
00:06:17,884 --> 00:06:22,832
and ask their institutions
to divest from fossil fuels.

102
00:06:24,830 --> 00:06:28,890
It's something very simple
and obvious we are asking for.

103
00:06:30,380 --> 00:06:32,451
It's to divest from those companies

104
00:06:32,451 --> 00:06:37,176
that are at the root of the system
that we need to change.

105
00:06:37,534 --> 00:06:39,222
And it's usually not that much;

106
00:06:39,222 --> 00:06:43,802
it's just between five and ten percent
of all investments that needs to be moved.

107
00:06:44,943 --> 00:06:48,214
It's a totally realistic goal,
and we can reach it.

108
00:06:49,095 --> 00:06:50,493
So, now you may say,

109
00:06:51,648 --> 00:06:53,773
"Well, if it's not that much money,

110
00:06:53,773 --> 00:06:55,151
who cares?"

111
00:06:56,062 --> 00:06:57,439
And even worse,

112
00:06:57,439 --> 00:07:00,313
"If these institutions divest

113
00:07:00,313 --> 00:07:03,504
somebody else is going to buy
their shares, right?"

114
00:07:05,249 --> 00:07:06,540
It's true.

115
00:07:06,968 --> 00:07:09,458
The fossil fuel industry is very big,

116
00:07:09,458 --> 00:07:12,498
and there will always be
investors who don't care.

117
00:07:13,541 --> 00:07:17,842
So, will the fossil fuel industry
even take any notice of what's going on?

118
00:07:17,842 --> 00:07:20,867
How can divestment
actually change anything?

119
00:07:22,170 --> 00:07:27,166
Well, this brings us to the second thing
that I learned about divestment.

120
00:07:28,737 --> 00:07:30,632
It's not about money.

121
00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:32,972
But it can cause something else;

122
00:07:32,972 --> 00:07:34,941
it can cause moral bankruptcy.

123
00:07:36,670 --> 00:07:40,050
And you can see an example
of moral bankruptcy

124
00:07:40,050 --> 00:07:43,768
if you look at the end
of the South African apartheid regime.

125
00:07:45,459 --> 00:07:48,582
In the 80's, students in the US

126
00:07:49,762 --> 00:07:53,739
succeeded in asking their universities
to divest from companies

127
00:07:54,141 --> 00:07:58,468
that were doing business
with the South African apartheid regime.

128
00:07:59,281 --> 00:08:02,612
And those universities divesting

129
00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,048
and talking in public
about why they had done so

130
00:08:07,818 --> 00:08:10,141
led to other institutions following:

131
00:08:11,328 --> 00:08:16,963
faith organizations, unions,
cities, investment funds.

132
00:08:18,404 --> 00:08:20,303
It spread like a virus.

133
00:08:21,237 --> 00:08:26,173
And this public dissociation was,
according to Nelson Mandela,

134
00:08:26,173 --> 00:08:29,346
a crucial factor in ending apartheid.

135
00:08:30,473 --> 00:08:35,032
And Willem de Klerk, the last president
of the apartheid regime, can be quoted:

136
00:08:36,705 --> 00:08:42,374
"When the divestment movement began,
I knew that apartheid had to end."

137
00:08:42,374 --> 00:08:45,011
[F.W. de Klerk, last president
of the apartheid regime]

138
00:08:45,011 --> 00:08:48,118
This is a political leader acknowledging

139
00:08:49,027 --> 00:08:51,906
that once people are ready
to move their money

140
00:08:52,539 --> 00:08:54,942
in order to make a moral statement,

141
00:08:55,921 --> 00:08:58,061
they will have their way.

142
00:09:00,989 --> 00:09:03,343
Think about the power that gives to us.

143
00:09:06,521 --> 00:09:10,223
And there is yet a third thing
I came to understand about divestment:

144
00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:13,668
it's a precondition for change.

145
00:09:15,246 --> 00:09:19,296
Remember I said earlier that we don't see
the necessary political steps?

146
00:09:20,244 --> 00:09:21,830
Well, here is why.

147
00:09:22,194 --> 00:09:24,499
We as a society

148
00:09:24,499 --> 00:09:28,898
currently depend on the profits
of the fossil fuel industry.

149
00:09:28,898 --> 00:09:31,464
Because we invested in them everywhere.

150
00:09:32,522 --> 00:09:35,810
Our wellbeing depends
on their dirty business.

151
00:09:36,199 --> 00:09:39,874
Currently, as it is, if they fall,
we lose our money.

152
00:09:40,917 --> 00:09:42,416
On the other hand,

153
00:09:42,416 --> 00:09:46,309
we know if they remain profitable,
the planet will be boiled.

154
00:09:47,335 --> 00:09:49,208
Which one is worse?

155
00:09:50,426 --> 00:09:52,212
We need to understand

156
00:09:52,944 --> 00:09:56,975
that ending this dependency
is a precondition

157
00:09:57,079 --> 00:10:02,101
for taking the necessary steps
to stop global warming,

158
00:10:03,811 --> 00:10:06,690
for rebuilding our economy

159
00:10:06,690 --> 00:10:10,460
and changing it into one
that is based on renewables.

160
00:10:12,396 --> 00:10:15,830
Divestment is not going to solve
all the problems immediately,

161
00:10:15,830 --> 00:10:19,177
but it's the first necessary step
towards solving them.

162
00:10:23,199 --> 00:10:25,995
And the virus is spreading.

163
00:10:28,956 --> 00:10:32,898
This is what this powerful
and wonderful movement

164
00:10:32,898 --> 00:10:36,556
has been achieving in the past 18 months;

165
00:10:36,556 --> 00:10:39,781
all of these institutions
have decided to divest.

166
00:10:40,432 --> 00:10:44,768
It's started with a lot of
universities in the US,

167
00:10:44,768 --> 00:10:47,019
Yale being the latest example.

168
00:10:48,030 --> 00:10:50,827
Then there was the Norwegian
Sovereign Wealth Fund.

169
00:10:50,827 --> 00:10:56,729
They decided to divest
their 900 billion portfolio last year.

170
00:10:57,864 --> 00:11:02,127
There were over 60 cities,
such as Seattle, Oslo, Copenhagen

171
00:11:02,127 --> 00:11:06,240
and Munster, being the first German city,
to take that decision last year,

172
00:11:06,590 --> 00:11:08,470
where responsibles said,

173
00:11:08,470 --> 00:11:12,029
"It was surprisingly easy
and quickly done."

174
00:11:12,756 --> 00:11:15,196
And then other huge institutions followed:

175
00:11:16,015 --> 00:11:19,136
The Rockefeller Foundation,
The Guardian Media Group,

176
00:11:19,786 --> 00:11:22,072
The British Medical Association,

177
00:11:24,029 --> 00:11:27,269
a lot of faith organizations
and the Church of Scotland.

178
00:11:27,525 --> 00:11:29,772
And even the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation,

179
00:11:29,772 --> 00:11:33,633
who would not call it "divestment,"
but that is really what they do.

180
00:11:35,549 --> 00:11:39,193
So, the entire sum

181
00:11:39,193 --> 00:11:44,688
adds up to 3.4 trillion US dollars

182
00:11:44,688 --> 00:11:47,108
that are committed
for divestment right now.

183
00:11:49,194 --> 00:11:53,589
Now, what about my hometown, Berlin,
and the campaign I'm in?

184
00:11:54,537 --> 00:11:55,884
We are not on the list yet,

185
00:11:55,884 --> 00:11:59,974
but we had a meeting
with the senator for finance last week.

186
00:12:00,702 --> 00:12:04,156
And he said that he began
looking into divestment

187
00:12:04,256 --> 00:12:07,243
just shortly after
we launched our campaign,

188
00:12:07,366 --> 00:12:10,565
and he expects it to be done
by the end of this year.

189
00:12:11,806 --> 00:12:15,364
We're ten people in a four million town.

190
00:12:16,881 --> 00:12:17,941
Now -

191
00:12:17,941 --> 00:12:22,095
(Applause)

192
00:12:30,254 --> 00:12:31,761
Getting him to talk to us

193
00:12:31,761 --> 00:12:34,253
obviously was a lot of work
in the past year.

194
00:12:35,384 --> 00:12:39,607
And I did most of that work
at nights and on weekends

195
00:12:39,607 --> 00:12:43,844
because of my family
and my job filling my days.

196
00:12:45,792 --> 00:12:48,833
It was very exhausting,
but I could not stop.

197
00:12:49,356 --> 00:12:51,867
It was also a challenge
for the people around me,

198
00:12:51,867 --> 00:12:54,723
and my husband at times,
frankly, almost went nuts.

199
00:12:55,083 --> 00:12:57,352
Thank God, he is here today.

200
00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:04,228
So, over the last winter,
I decided to take a climate sabbatical.

201
00:13:04,231 --> 00:13:05,721
I was lucky I could do that.

202
00:13:05,721 --> 00:13:08,678
I wanted more time during the day
for the Berlin campaign,

203
00:13:09,435 --> 00:13:11,448
and also, I wanted to do something else,

204
00:13:11,448 --> 00:13:15,672
I wanted to address my own pension fund -
Versorgungswerk der Presse -

205
00:13:17,896 --> 00:13:19,736
and make them divest.

206
00:13:19,917 --> 00:13:22,753
I sent a letter to them last fall,

207
00:13:22,753 --> 00:13:24,386
and shortly after, they replied

208
00:13:24,386 --> 00:13:30,186
saying that they had decided
to divest partly from coal.

209
00:13:30,938 --> 00:13:34,450
Sometimes it can be that simple;
it was just one letter -

210
00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:38,813
and of course, the threat to tell
the entire German press about it,

211
00:13:39,055 --> 00:13:40,777
but OK.

212
00:13:41,151 --> 00:13:42,788
(Laughing)

213
00:13:44,535 --> 00:13:47,057
But it is just a first step;
it's really too little.

214
00:13:47,057 --> 00:13:49,013
I want my pension to be clean,

215
00:13:49,013 --> 00:13:51,123
and that's why I want them
to go all the way.

216
00:13:51,123 --> 00:13:52,889
So I built this website,

217
00:13:54,259 --> 00:13:57,034
and I'm mobilizing journalists
and other supporters

218
00:13:57,239 --> 00:13:58,495
to send divestment letters

219
00:13:58,495 --> 00:14:02,621
to the Versorgungswerk der Presse
through this website.

220
00:14:02,633 --> 00:14:04,022
I hope you will check it out.

221
00:14:04,022 --> 00:14:06,478
And if you think
it's a good idea, contribute.

222
00:14:07,526 --> 00:14:09,555
Now, there is really no need

223
00:14:09,555 --> 00:14:12,742
to go all the way crazy
over divestment like I did.

224
00:14:13,339 --> 00:14:17,320
You can actually get things going
with fairly little effort.

225
00:14:18,180 --> 00:14:22,456
And that's why I want
to encourage you to take action.

226
00:14:23,729 --> 00:14:25,339
Look around you -

227
00:14:25,339 --> 00:14:29,964
the person next to you might be a member
of the same pension fund

228
00:14:29,964 --> 00:14:32,271
or a customer of the same bank as you.

229
00:14:33,985 --> 00:14:37,582
You can get together
and start by writing a letter.

230
00:14:39,453 --> 00:14:42,841
If you are not sure how to do it,
send me an email - we'll get it done.

231
00:14:44,505 --> 00:14:47,948
Now, I've lived in Hamburg,
and I know that it's a wealthy city.

232
00:14:49,095 --> 00:14:52,568
If you have money,
make sure it does the right thing,

233
00:14:54,158 --> 00:14:57,907
and then go and tell everyone
what you did and why.

234
00:14:59,804 --> 00:15:02,772
If we let our financial institutions know

235
00:15:02,772 --> 00:15:06,062
that we do not want to benefit
from global warming anymore,

236
00:15:07,015 --> 00:15:11,099
we will set in motion a change process.

237
00:15:11,853 --> 00:15:15,708
I guarantee: the more we are the better.

238
00:15:17,376 --> 00:15:20,491
And my dream is that one day
when we are looking back,

239
00:15:21,096 --> 00:15:23,695
the fossil fuel industry
will be quoted this:

240
00:15:24,504 --> 00:15:28,234
"When the divestment movement began,
we knew that fossil fuels had to end."

241
00:15:28,234 --> 00:15:29,516
[The fossil fuel industry]

242
00:15:30,091 --> 00:15:31,307
Thank you.

243
00:15:31,307 --> 00:15:34,903
(Applause)