Time is running. From today on it is only 11 days to go until February 14th Global Divestment Day (GDD). On this day, people all over the world will demand public institutions to choose means to protect and not destroy the environment through investments. Some targets will be universities or municipalities, other may be pension funds or other institutions funded by public money. From the US to Malaysia, from Australia to South Africa and all over Europe including major cities such as London, Stockholm, Berlin and Amsterdam, people will take actions.
What will happen in Amsterdam? In order to give you all the information you need about the local action here, we listed the major things you should know about GDD.
1. Why Amsterdam? In Amsterdam, we will come together to speak out for a fossil free future. Amsterdam is fairly known for its beautiful canals and countless bicycle paths, but what it is less known that Amsterdam is also home to a large and growing fossil fuel industry in the western harbor area. With our action we want to raise awareness about Amsterdam being the second largest coal and the largest gasoline harbor in Europe. Besides, a 500MwH coal power plant produces dirty energy in Amsterdam’s backyard. We want to challenge Amsterdam’s sustainability image!
2. What is the main message of GDD?
FOSSIL FUELS = HISTORY
RENEWABLES = FUTURE
DIVEST!
3. Where will the action start? As we are all very keen on our bikes, we wanted to include them in our action. Thus, we will surround the Amsterdam city hall (Stopera- at Waterlooplein) with hundreds of people, and, our bikes! So make sure to be there at 14:00 o’clock!
4.What do you have to bring? Bring bells, whistles, drums and sirens! Together we will make some noise and wake the municipality up by sounding the alarm about the dirty and risky fossil fuel investments and harbor activities of the Amsterdam municipality. So do not forget to bring your bike, bells and whistles (and maybe your earplugs). And of course we will not only stand with our bikes but also ride them!
5.Critical Mass After sounding the alarm, we will hop on our bikes and have a critical mass of bicycles to Museumplein. From Waterlooplein to Museumplein it is about 2,5 km. We imagine the bike ride as a colourful parade. Check these 250 flags we made to decorate ours and your bikes with. We will provide all the material to attach them to the bikes. You better be there early. But we also encourage everyone to think about nice things to put on your bikes and yourself. Maybe you have a cool bakfiets or bring a really cool omafiets? Of course you are welcome to bring your own banners and flags or join us on the pimp your bike event on February 11th at the FossielvrijNL Office.
6. Museumplein There, we will connect to the international movement and other global actions happening on that day. With people we will form in big letters the word FUTURE. Hereby, we will link to our core message. The American continent will write “fossil fuels = history”, in Europe we will create “renewables = future ” and Australia will 
contribute with “Divest”. In creative ways these words will be formed. At this point we will feel that Fossil Free Amsterdam is not a single campaign, it is connected to a wider movement throughout the Netherlands and all over the world.
At this point it is worth mentioning that Amsterdam represents the flagship action of the Netherlands. If you can’t make it, check our local events happening on the 13th of February all over the country.
7. What is the aim of the action? Besides raising the awareness about Amsterdam’s
fossil fuels secret we want to link this action with the launch of the Amsterdam fossielvrij campaign. Concerned citizens of Amsterdam started a petition already in autumn 2014 to demand the municipality to become fossil free. The group relies on the idea of the carbon budget. In order to stay below the 2°C of global warming only a certain budget of CO2 can be released to the atmosphere. Scientists proved that 80% of coal, oil & gas have to stay underground. This results in an overestimation of the financial and economic value of the current fossil fuel industry creating a carbon bubble, like the housing and interent bubble in the past and stranded assets. If all these fuels can not be burned any more, it is unsustainable and neglecting evidence to invest in the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure.
8.The challenge The Stopera represents not only the municipality but it is also the largest building in the city. We choose this building to be ambitious. We will need a couple of hundred people and bikes to entirely surround the building. BUT, we thought, let’s think BIG and accepted the challenge. You can easily support us to reach our goal by spreading the word either via our website, facebook or twitter. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for nice weather.
9. Who can participate? EVERYONE is welcome to participate in the action. We want to be inclusive, and family-friendly to have kids and elderly people joining in. Tell your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues about it. Maybe there is someone you also wanted to go on a date with. Bring this person along! We want our action to be accessible for everybody. A bike is so much of a cultural part of life in Amsterdam. Bring your bikes, if you have no bike, try to get an OV-fiets. This action is also empowering because it is not only criticizing the current situation but also demanding solutions through this short, energetic, mobile mass action.
10. Who is organizing the GDD in Amsterdam? We are called Fossielvrij.NL and are part of the wider Divestment movement initiated by the American NGO 350.org. FossielvrijNL consits of individuals and local groups demanding public institutions such as universities, municipalities and the ABP pension fund to divest in order to prevent climate change and ensure a transition to a renewable and low-carbon energy future!
