Until a few months ago the word divestment barely entered by vocabulary. Now I find divestment is on the tip of my tongue morning, noon and night.

On February 13 and 14, thousands of people across five continents will turn out to take collective action demanding divestment from fossil fuels.  Over the last two months, as a member of Divest London, we have planned an exciting day of action for February 14, targeting City Hall.  Here’s the flyer advertising our day:

Divest London flyer

If you’re based in or around London, come along!

We have seven brilliant teams, working on different elements of the day, including action, engagement, media and outreach.  On my first divest meeting back in December, I volunteered to be part of the outreach team, to help spread the word about our day by contacting organisations, researching ideas and putting up leaflets.

Over the past month, in nearly every spare moment, when Aidan is napping or after he has gone to bed, I’m on skype calls with the Divest London team, drafting emails, badgering people to sign our petition or researching organisations to contact. Sometimes I’m juggling phone calls while Aidan plays beside me, or listening to web workshops in the background while we have our dinner. My requests to my husband to babysit find me huddled in a university basement room with Londoners from various backgrounds, motivated by our shared love for our city, fears for the future and our vision for an inspiring alternative.

Why have I become so obsessed with divestment when I barely thought about the word a year ago?  Well partly because the movement has grown so much over the last few months and is becoming a formidable force for change. Part of the answer is that I’m motivated by my desire to create a safe future for Aidan and also by my love for our planet. But in addition to these reasons, I also feel genuinely excited to be part of the campaign; I often wake up in the morning with a new idea for a contact to approach and I really look forward to our fortnightly meetings (and not just to enjoy a glass of wine in the student bar!)

With divestment campaigning, the genius behind the idea lies in the simplicity of our argument. We now know that we need to keep at least 80% of carbon reserves in the ground to avoid the high risk of catastrophic climate change.  Therefore it doesn’t make any sense for our public institutions (or indeed anyone) to keep investing in these industries, knowing that by doing so we are endangering the future for all of us, particularly for our poorest communities and our children. The moral argument for fossil fuel divestment is clear.

The clarity of the argument has enabled me to really get my teeth into this campaign and commit wholeheartedly. It has revived my faith in the climate justice movement and led to me to commit to green lifestyle changes with renewed enthusiasm. It is also stimulating to campaign with so many other committed, engaged and talented people. Despite the seriousness of the subject, our meetings are always enjoyable and I leave with a sense of momentum and gratitude.

Although our campaign is local and directed at City Hall, we are campaigning against the backdrop of a global movement. Last night I watched a web workshop on divestment, organised by 350.org, with a talk by Naomi Klein; I was deeply impressed by all the creative actions planned for Global Divestment Day from around the world. From music and art in South Africa, mass student action in North America, to protests in Asia, it was inspiring to remember that our London action is just one piece in this powerful international jigsaw.

In Active Hope, Joanna Macy writes about the difference between ‘moral acts’ and ‘beautiful acts’. Moral acts are those we are driven to perform from a sense of duty or obligation.  Beautiful ones are performed from a genuine desire to act in response to our vision for the world.  Hearing the inspiring global plans and reflecting on the vision and energy I have seen in the Divest London team, I am convinced that Global Divestment Day will see a series of beautiful acts around the world, creating even more momentum for climate justice as we move into 2015.