Thread by @OperationNoah

#Synod fringe event on climate change and fossil fuel divestment now under way with @christian_aid and @oxforddiocese

First, we hear from Archbishop Albert Chama of the Church of the Province of Central Africa on the effects climate change is already having in this part of the world.

Next, Adam Matthews tells us about the TPI Initiative, which groups together big investors to try to pressure fossil fuel companies from the inside and says there has been serious progress over the last few years. 'We are seeing signs of transition'.

'We are at a key moment in the transition' and therefore need to stay engaged with these companies.

Sian Ferguson from the Sainsbury Family Charitable Foundations asks the key question: 'We know that the fossil fuel era will end this century - but will it end in time?' @DivestInvest_Eu

Sian Ferguson looks at the performance of fossil fuel companies, telling us they have downplayed and tried to discredit climate change for decades and are still predicated on business models which will lead to over 3 degrees of warming.

'We have divested from fossil fuel companies and invested in others - and there hasn't been a financial cost.'

Bishop Steven gives 4 key reasons for his amendment:
1) Trip to linked Diocese of South Africa brought home the present and growing intensity of climate change. 'If we are purely self-congratulatory tomorrow, we will have failed the Anglican Communion'

2) Encounters closer to home in the Diocese of Oxford. If the Church of England does not act now, it will be out of step with much of the Anglican Communion.

3) Meeting with experts from the university and beyond. They all say this is not about strategy but an *ethical* issue.

4) The growing movement of organisations supporting divestment. @christian_aid and @Tearfund among them, representing the Churches' engagement with some of the poorest people on the planet.

Sian Ferguson: 'We need to encourage investment into clean technologies so more can access them.'

'If you want the Paris Agreement to work, you have to leave some fossil fuels underground.'

Bishop @Steven_Croft concludes by highlighting the successes of the Transition Pathway Initiative - the right strategy for past 5 years.

But 2020 is key: it needs to be the year of peak carbon, reducing to zero carbon in 2050. 'Our strategy needs to reflect that shift.'