mrti Archives

Both sides on fossil fuel divestment issue look ahead post-GA223

Posted June 26th, 2018

For hours, Fossil Free PCUSA representatives lay scattered across the floor outside of the convention hall at the 223rd General Assembly in St. Louis last week. The “die-in” was in response to the commissioners’ decision to accept a minority report asking the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) to continue its engagement with fossil fuel companies.

Walk for a Fossil Free World reaches halfway point to St. Louis

Posted June 11th, 2018

Despite some heat, a few blisters and at least one case of poison ivy, participants in the PC(USA) Walk for a Fossil Free World are encouraged as they enter the final days of their trek to St. Louis. The walk, a joint project of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and Fossil Free PCUSA, began June 1 at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville. It ends June 16 at the start of the 223rd General Assembly.

Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment invests in shareholder advocacy

Posted June 7th, 2018

Presbyterian News Service recently submitted questions to Joseph Kinaird, chair of the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) about the upcoming General Assembly in St. Louis and its continuous discussions with the fossil fuel industry.

Presbyterians begin 260-mile walk to the 223rd General Assembly in St. Louis

Posted June 1st, 2018

With gray and overcast skies above them, a group of 25 to 30 people gathered at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville on Friday morning to begin a two-week trek to St. Louis on foot. The PC(USA) Walk for a Fossil Free World is a joint project of both the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and Fossil Free PCUSA to stand against investment in the fossil fuel industry.

Mission Responsibility Through Investment prepares for 223rd General Assembly

Posted May 7th, 2018

The Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) is making final preparations for its recommendations to the 223rd General Assembly. MRTI is a three-agency committee that implements the General Assembly’s policies on faith-based investing.

Mission Responsibility Through Investment makes headway with Houston-based oil company

Posted May 2nd, 2018

It’s another major crack in the ceiling. That’s how Rob Fohr, director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Faith-Based Investing, describes progress with Noble Energy Corporation of Houston, Texas. Last week, Fohr presented a shareholder resolution calling for a climate change scenario analysis.

Fair trade begins to flourish in Sri Lanka

Posted March 28th, 2018

Sri Lanka faces enormous economic and social challenges, but when a group representing several ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency visited in January, they saw a couple of fair trade and innovative workplaces beginning to flourish.

Is Sri Lanka’s effort to become a tourism and business hub costing the country too much?

Posted March 13th, 2018

China is investing billions of dollars to build infrastructure all over Asia — Malaysia, the Philippines, and most recently, Sri Lanka. China says it is building a modern-day “silk road” (a nod to its ancient trade route), but some believe there are staggering consequences to signing away too much control to the Chinese, including irreparable environmental harm and debt so large it can never be repaid.

Lack of proper nutrition, housing and education plague Sri Lanka’s tea plantation community

Posted February 26th, 2018

The plantation people of Sri Lanka harvest some of the world’s finest tea, yet they don’t get to enjoy it themselves. Instead, they are only allowed to take the bitter dust of the leaves. It’s a metaphor for their lives.

Infusing capital with Presbyterian values

Posted February 26th, 2018

If investors demanded it, would companies change their practices to benefit the environment and slow the effects of global warming? The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Faith-Based Investing and Corporate Engagement believes that this strategy can work, and that companies encouraged to do so may improve their practices through dialogue. The Presbyterian Board of Pensions and the Presbyterian Foundation are helping bolster this effort by paying for an additional staff person in this office. The staff person, Katie Carter, started work in 2017.