Divestment Day 2016 is coming up! Here’s a quick guide to what divestment is, the successes that divestment campaigns have had so far, and what we are doing this year.

What’s divestment?

Divestment is the opposite of investment. It’s rearranging your finances so that you aren’t supporting the fossil fuel industry through your bank, investments, superannuation or insurance. We have power as consumers to choose financial services products in-line with our strongly held convictions about climate change.

On Friday 7th October, NQCC coordinated the Townsville event for National Divestment Day. We went to our banks and gave them the message that if they continue to choose fossil fuels, then we will choose a different bank.

Customers turned out across Australia on the 7th and 8th of October 2016 to demand real climate change action from their bank! ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac were held accountable to the fact that they promised climate change action but continued to fund the expansion of the dirty fossil fuel industry. Accounts were closed, cards cut up and more letters of warning from customers who are ready to move their money if the banks don’t deliver real climate change action.

In this month’s Paperbark we have lots of updates about our campaigns and important details about upcoming events – including our AGM and Hell’s Gate Dam forum next Monday and our annual trivia night.

In this issue: Adani updates – save ARENA wrap – dead dugongs – marine parks – local water security – Boomerang Bags – saving frogs – divestment day – AGM and Hell’s Gate forum – our annual trivia night – Aussie Backyard Bird Count

In this issue: Welcome back; Feeling the heat; NQCC News in brief; Carmichael Mine; Contaminated dust deposition; Water issues; A GLOBAL agreement on climate change – Paris December 2015; Divestment – Westpac commitment, Market Forces ‘Burned’ Report; improved SuperSwitch; Decarbonisation – Inspiration for Action; Earth Hour; Townsville Against Live Export; Turning clicktivists into real-world activists; Diary Dates.

Welcome back
It seems crazy to be wishing people a happy new year when we are over a 10th of the way through 2016 – but we do hope that the year ahead will be a good one for you and yours.