“The silent power”
Divesting the capital of German foundations – about 100 billion euros in total – from fossil fuels would send a “strong and effective signal to the capital markets” and to the government to implement the Paris Agreement, writes Matthias Fiedler in Frankfurter Rundschau. “But the majority of foundations in Germany are sleeping through the debate about exiting fossil fuels,” unlike their counterparts in the US that “supply stimulus and ideas for progress” through their divestment efforts, writes Fiedler. “Yet, to be able to start the debate [on how the money could be invested in a global Energiewende], we need more transparency. Nobody knows how much foundation capital is invested in coal, gas and oil at the moment,” writes Fiedler.