OUR ORGANISATION
We are a network of South Africans calling for divestment from fossil fuel companies – and restorative reinvestment in sustainable energy – to stigmatise fossil fuel use, accelerate sustainable system change, help slow climate change, reduce the financial risks of fossil fuel investments, and so help secure our human rights and common future.
Fossil Free South Africa was legally established as a voluntary association in early 2015.
We’re part of the global divestment movement originally inspired by 350.org and now spanning more than 1600 institutions that include churches, philanthropies retirement funds, cities like New York, London, Paris, Melbourne and Cape Town, and assets valued at over $40 trillion (as of 2021). By 2024, over three-quarters of UK universities had made divestment pledges.
Our story so far
Fossil Free SA was born from the campaign to persuade the University of Cape Town to divest, from 2013, and become a registered non-profit in 2014 with a broader goal of facilitating fossil fuel divestment in South Africa.
In 2017, we helped persuade the City of Cape Town to divest, and we were at last instrumental in securing divestment by Africa’s top-rated university, the University of Cape Town, in March 2022.
We continue to engage other universities, notably Wits and Stellenbosch; and South African asset managers, on divestment.
From 2021, our work expanded to challenge fossil fuel company greenwashing under the banner of our Clean Creatives SA and Fossil Ad Ban campaigns, and our climate journalism initiatives.
Please support our campaigns and watch our timelines and news for updates.
PAST ACHIEVEMENTS
Our achievements over the years
In 2024, our Fossil Ad Ban campaign lodged and won South Africa’s first greenwashing complaint with the Advertising Regulatory Board, against TotalEnergies.
Our Clean Creatives South Africa campaign has led to 57 advertising and PR agencies pledging, over the past two years, to cease or refuse any work from the fossil fuel industry.
We have developed a Planet A Investment Guide for fossil-free, green and socially responsible investments. We also created Climate Reporting Guides for South African and African journalists to promote informed reporting on the climate crisis. Check out our resources section to learn more.
In 2022, our lobbying resulted in the University of Cape Town’s responsible investment panel making a landmark recommendation for fossil fuel divestment to the University.
We were one of the lead organisers on the September 2019 Financing the Future Conference, the first global divestment conference in the Global South.
Our lobbying, with the endorsement of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, successfully pushed the University of Cape Town to become the first African university with a responsible investment committee in 2018, and we have now twice passed votes at UCT’s Convocation for the university to divest. Read our full campaign timeline here.
Our 2018 Spotlight Campaign started pressuring asset managers to create fossil-free funds.
We held successful workshops on divestment for asset managers in 2017 and, in partnership with the UN-supported Principle for Responsible Investment, for retirement funds in 2019.
With 350 Africa, we helped push the City of Cape Town to become the first African city to commit to divestment from fossil fuels in 2017. Read our full campaign timeline here.
We’ve built up a substantial body of expertise and connections on the climate, finance and responsible investment nexus in South Africa. This includes consulting on and supporting the creation of South Africa’s only fossil-free equity fund, the BCI Select ESG Equity Fund, which excludes Sasol and all thermal coal.
Funding
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Fossil Free SA’s first-ever budget of approximately R70,000 was funded through a crowd funding campaign that closed on 31 January 2015. We have long received some ongoing contributions and donations from supporters, while some of our professional events have raised money via ticket sales and sponsorships. From 2017 onwards, we have received grants from foundations to fund our core activities.
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In 2017, our May divestment workshop was funded by R30,000 from 350.org and R12,000 from Futuregrowth Asset Management. Futuregrowth also part-sponsored our 2019 workshop on Climate-Proofing Retirement Funds. David Le Page’s travel to a 2017 global divestment conference in Amsterdam was sponsored by the Wallace Global Fund.
2017–2021: We received core operational funding from the Wallace Global Fund. We continue to receive small monthly donations from a number of individuals. We also received $3,000 from a private donor in the US in 2018.
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In 2022, we continued to receive funding from the European Climate Foundation and some small donations from private donors in South Africa.
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In 2023, our main funder was the European Climate Foundation, with some of our climate journalism work being funded by Natural Justice.
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Our ECF grant was supplemented this year by a small grant from the Rosa Luxemberg Foundation.
Governance
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Fossil Free SA endeavors at all times to follow best practice guidelines for the management of non-profits in South Africa, as outlined in these recommendations:
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Fossil Free SA is run by its staff (currently the coordinator and part-time administrator), but constituted as a voluntary association of:
members who support our mission (around 20, as of 2022)
with staff oversight from those members serving on our Management Committee
Members are invited to apply, are then confirmed as members by resolution of the ManCo, and are then eligible to serve on ManCo.
You can apply for membership by filling in our membership form here.
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ENDORSEMENTS
The global divestment campaign has been endorsed, by, amongst others:
The late Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu (who also endorsed our UCT campaign)
The World Council of Churches
The Anglican Church in the UK, Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, and Australia)
South African campaign endorsements
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Archbishop (of Cape Town) Thabo Makgoba
Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (watch Bishop Geoff Davies explain why divestment is vital)
Pregs Govender, former MP and deputy chair of the SA Human Rights Commission (in her personal capacity)
Ronnie Kasrils, former minister of water affairs and forestry.
Simon Gear, anchor of SABC3 environment programme 50/50.
East Rand Protective Workshop
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Dr Eduard Grebe
Dr Claire Kelly
James Irlam, senior lecturer, Health Sciences
Richard Calland, associate professor, law faculty
Cormac Cullinan, research associate of the Department of Public Law at UCT
Phoebe Barnard, lead climate scientist at SANBI: “As a ‘leading Afropolitan university’, UCT can show Africa and South Africa true leadership here.”
Professor Ralph Hamann, Graduate School of Business
Tania Katzschner, senior lecturer, School of Architecture
Endorsements for this campaign are now being added to our petition calling on the University of Cape Town to be true to its own research and traditions, and divest from fossil fuels. If you’re part of the UCT community, please do add your signature.
If you are part of a South African organisation that endorses this movement, please message us so we can add your name. We value all our supporters equally. But if you are, say, a professor or run an investment company, your endorsement, like the names above, could be very helpful, so please let us know.
OUR PARTNERS
Our campaign was originally inspired by the work of 350.org.
Our campaign was originally inspired by the work of 350.org. We have close working relationships with 350 Africa, and with Just Share. We are a registered network supporter of the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment. Our UCT campaign has been an ongoing partnership with the student members of the Green Campus Initiative, and at Stellenbosch University we have a strong relationship with the EcoMaties student environmental society. We are affiliated with the SA Climate Justice Coalition.