FossilFreeUMC

This post is a Model Resolution on Fossil Fuel Divestment from Fossil Free UMC and the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, with a substitute resolution to present as an amendment or substitute if Resolution 1 is strongly opposed and likely to fail.

Resolution 1:   Divesting From Fossil Fuels as an Annual Conference.

In addition, there is a Substitute Resolution, if Resolution 1 is strongly opposed and likely to fail.

How to use these resolutions. We suggest that every annual conference edit and submit the first resolution, which calls for the Annual Conference to divest from fossil fuels and to report back to the next Annual Conference Session about progress and results.

The submitter of the resolution can have the substitute resolution ready to present as an amendment if the resolution is strongly opposed and it appears likely to fail. The substitute resolution calls for forming a task force organized by the Conference Council on Finance & Administration for ongoing study, consultation, and engagement on how to identify sound financial strategies to screen out fossil fuels from conference investment portfolios.

For both resolutions, the reasons why the annual conference should consider taking action (the Whereas section) is the same.

Resolution 1:   Divesting From Fossil Fuels as an Annual Conference

BE IT RESOLVED that by October 1, 2025, the _________________ Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church shall identify all investments in their portfolios whose core business activity involves the ownership of reserves and/or production of coal, petroleum, or natural gas. Core business activity refers to a company’s primary, central focus of activity and is an essential element in the company’s economic success, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that by February 1, 2026, the ______________Annual Conference shall have identified sound financial strategies to screen out fossil fuels from conference investment portfolios, with the help of consultation and resources readily available through annual conferences that have already divested from fossil fuels, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that by May 1, 2026, the ______________Annual Conference shall be following a path of divestment away from any company or entity whose core business activity involves the ownership of reserves and/or production of coal, petroleum, or natural gas, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that there will be a report on the progress of divestment from fossil fuels and a timeline for its completion made by the Council on Finance and Administration to the 2026 ______________ Annual Conference session.

Substitute Resolution, If it looks like Resolution 1 is going to fail:

Creating a Task Force on Annual Conference Fossil Fuel Divestment

BE IT RESOLVED that by October 1, 2025, the ____________________Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church shall identify all investments in their portfolios whose core business activity involves the production of coal, petroleum, or natural gas. Core business activity refers to a company’s primary, or central focus of activity and is an essential element in the company’s economic success, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the ____________________Annual Conference Council on Finance and Administration convene a task force that includes ongoing study, consultation, and engagement during the upcoming conference year on how to identify sound financial strategies to screen out fossil fuels from Conference investment portfolios. The task force will include members from the following agencies and teams: Conference Board of Pensions, Conference Foundation, Conference Claimants Endowment Board, Conference Green Team [or equivalent], General Council on Finance and Administration, Wespath, United Methodist Creation Justice Movement, and Fossil Free UMC.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, following the work of the task force,  the various agencies of the _____________________Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church shall begin to gradually reduce investments in any company or entity whose core business activity involves the production of coal, petroleum, or natural gas, and to invest instead in products or services that are consistent with United Methodist positions on energy and climate as stated in the Social Principles, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, the _________________Conference Council on Finance and Administration will make a report, including recommendations, to the 2026 Annual Conference.

 Rationale for both Fossil Fuel Divestment Resolutions stays the same.

WHEREAS: The spiritual and moral reasons for divesting from fossil fuels are clear. Jesus said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). In “The General Rules,” John Wesley said, “First: By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced….” In secular terms, the simplest moral reason is that “It is wrong to profit from wrecking the planet.”

WHEREAS: In 1980, The United Methodist General Conference as a body passed a resolution on Energy Policy acknowledging the harm caused by fossil fuels (#1120, 2024 Book of Resolutions, pages 67). The UMC was the first denomination to call for a just transition away from fossil fuels toward conservation and renewable energy by governments and the church, yet our denomination continues to invest in and profit from coal, oil, and gas.

WHEREAS: The United Methodist Church’s endorsement of fossil fuel corporations through our investments belies our stated commitment to a transition away from fossil fuels and toward a just and sustainable future. Two decades of Wespath’s corporate engagement and stockholder actions with the world’s largest greenhouse gas producers, including Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Occidental Petroleum, have failed. 

WHEREAS: These corporations have known since 1970s that their products would warm the climate and endanger creation, but instead of transitioning to conservation and renewable energy, they created a massive public relations campaign to foster doubt that climate change was real. Their profit-seeking strategies continue today in the form of “greenwashing,” lobbying government for corporate subsidies, and blocking strong climate legislation and international treaties. By continuing to invest and engage with them, we provide moral cover for these corporate “bad actors.” This makes The United Methodist Church complicit in knowingly causing unspeakable harm to children, marginalized people, our human family, and the community of all creation, not just now but into the future.

WHEREAS: In addition to being the primary drivers of climate change, fossil fuels cause tremendous harm in their extraction, transport, and processing. They create “sacrifice zones” by polluting marginalized, mostly Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities, regions, and countries. When burned, they destabilize the climate, causing harm on a scale that threatens human civilization and the community of creation here on Earth. This harm disproportionately impacts the world’s most vulnerable people, who have done least to cause climate change.

WHEREAS: The fossil fuel divestment movement has now grown to over 1,600 institutions with assets totaling over $40.6 trillion that have divested from fossil fuels. Thirty-five percent of them are churches and other faith communities. If we divest from fossil fuels here in the ___________ Annual Conference, it will be a witness to how The United Methodist Church can walk its talk about climate change.

WHEREAS: Investing is always risky, but investing in fossil fuel stocks will become ever-riskier financially as climate change accelerates. Known coal, oil, and gas reserves  cannot all be burned without making the planet uninhabitable. These reserves will become “stranded assets” as the global transition to renewables advances, as renewables continue to gain market ground, as lawsuits against fossil fuel corporations become more common, and as large institutions continue to divest.

WHEREAS: In the past ten years, fossil fuels have underperformed when compared to the overall stock market. Many alternative investment funds are available that are largely fossil free, including the Social Values Choice funds administered by Wespath. These funds have a five-year history of competitive returns, usually outperforming their counterparts; and

WHEREAS the _________________ Annual Conference has shown its support for strong climate action by petitioning the General Conference to divest from fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT: