Fortune Built on Oil, Rockefellers Move Toward Green Energy

When it comes to clean energy and environmental sustainability, the UN Climate Change Summit that occurred at the end of September was a hotbed of activity, riveting speeches, and cutting edge climate information from around the globe.

Among the many announcements was news that the Rockefeller family – synonymous for the vast oil fortune that was built by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil – has made an unprecedented pledge to the Global Divest Invest initiative.

Global Divest-Invest is a grassroots organization, originating from college campuses in the US, that partners with individuals, organizations and businesses to divest from fossil fuels, while investing in renewable, climate improvement solutions. The organization offers a variety of opportunities and levels of commitment in getting involved and now touts more than 180 noteworthy institutions as philanthropic allies.

From Oil to Renewables

But back to the exciting news – The Rockefeller Brothers Fund currently reports more then $860M in assets and is now officially committed to collaborating with other partners on a $50B divestment from fossil fuel energies.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has been working to better align its endowed assets with its mission since 2010, when the board of trustees approved a commitment of up to 10% of the endowment to investments consistent with the foundation's Sustainable Development program goals. The Sustainable Development program advances global stewardship that is ecologically based, economically sound, socially just, culturally appropriate and consistent with intergenerational equity.

In a pleasant juxtaposition to the stoic nature of the fund itself, the announcement was made amidst a room full of cheering and foot stomping. Such rowdiness was reminiscent on a small scale of the 300,000+ strong People’s Climate March held the Sunday before the U.N. Summit, concluded a moment of silence with a roar that shook the stodgier parts of Manhattan.

Invoking the Standard Oil founder, John D. Rockefeller, director Stephen Heintz remarked, “We are quite convinced that if he were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy.”

The following day Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin addressed the Climate Summit in full, further detailing the organization’s diverse commitments to positively impacting climate change. She pointed to their collaboration with the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network and their $150M donation to USAID and the Swedish International Development Agency to help some of the worlds most vulnerable and impoverished locations better combat climate change consequences.