Councils urged to remove pension funds from fossil fuel companies
Published: Thursday, 16 February, 2017
Stroud District Council chair, Councillor Norman Kay has written to parish and town councils in the district to urge them to move their pension funds away from investments associated with the fossil fuel industry.
In 2015 data was published that showed UK local government pension schemes invest more than £14 billion in the fossil fuel industry.
A motion passed by the council in October 2016 states that it is committed to reducing the effects of climate change as part of the council's environmental policy by reducing the use of fossil fuels and finding alternative sources of energy. As a consequence, the motion concluded that investments in the fossil fuel industry represent a substantial financial risk.
Cllr Kay said:
"Make no mistake about it; it is an issue that affects our very lives. Unless we act to curtail fossil fuel use, we shall be dead".
Cllr Kay's letter coincides with a proposal for Gloucestershire's pension fund to be pooled with those of other local government funds in the South West and the Environment Agency within the Brunel Pension Partnership whose key investment principles are "responsible investment and stewardship."