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| Green Party London Assembly Members Caroline Russell and Sian Berry with Brent Green Simon Erskine |
Climate change campaigners are urging Brent Council to take
its money out of fossil fuels.
A new campaign group, Divest Brent, launched this week. The
activists hope to put pressure on the Council to “divest” from the fossil fuel
industry by withdrawing any money they have invested in companies involved in
digging for or burning coal, oil and gas.
Industry
Recently published figures indicate that the Council has over
£37 million invested in the fossil fuel industry through its pension fund.
Campaigner and Green Party activist Simon Erskine explained that the divestment
movement had already scored many victories in recent years and has become a
powerful method of forcing organisations to consider their contribution to
human-made climate change.
He told Wembley Matters:
It sends a message to the industry and
it raises awareness of the issue.
People may not already be aware of where their money is going
and might be concerned to learn they are helping to finance the fossil fuel
industry.
Fossil fuels belong to the past; they are not the answer to
climate change, they are the problem.
In the same way, people no longer want to invest in tobacco
or the arms trade.
Earlier this month a protest was staged outside City Hall to
call for the Greater London Authority to divest from fossil fuels. The London
Assembly has already passed a motion requesting the London Mayor to do exactly
that.
Organisations in the UK that have committed to fossil fuel
divestment so far include Oxford and Bristol city councils, the University of
Glasgow and the British Medical Association. A number of London Boroughs have
also committed – including neighbouring borough, Hammersmith & Fulham.
Globally more than 800 institutions (from government,
faith-based, philanthropic and educational organisations etc), representing
well over $5 trillion in assets, have committed to divest.
Ali Warrington, another Divest Brent campaigner, said:
It’s
really exciting to bring the fastest-growing divestment movement in history to
Brent. We need to act locally and ensure our representatives do
what’s right and invest ethically. The companies they’re investing in are creating
devastating climate change, and are insecure investments financially.
To support the campaign sign the petition HERE and email, Facebook and Tweet your friends urging them to sign.
This is the petition:
Brent Council should divest its pension
fund from fossil fuel companies to protect the people of Brent. So we
ask Brent Council to make a public divestment statement committing the
Brent Pension Fund to:
1. Immediately freeze any new investment in the top 200
publicly-traded fossil fuel companies with largest known carbon reserves
(oil, coal and gas)
2. Divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include
fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds in the top 200 list and
shift these funds to lower risk, ethical investments within 5 years
3. Advocate to other pension funds, including the London Pension Fund
Authority and Local Government Pension Scheme members to do the same
4. To do the above in a timely manner - by setting up a working group
to report back on a strategy to bring about divestment within three
months from the submission of this petition
Why is this important?
We believe divestment from fossil fuels to be not only ethically and environmentally correct, but also financially prudent.
Climate change is the greatest challenge humanity has encountered.
The 20 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1981 and 2016 was
the hottest ever [1]. Higher average temperatures are directly linked
to extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and
storms.
Scientists have unanimously concluded that these changes are a
consequence of human activity, arising from the burning of fossil fuels
[2]. Moreover, this activity has resulted in unprecedented levels of air
pollution, now regarded as a major world killer [3].
In a speech at Lloyd’s of London in September 2015, Mark Carney,
Governor of the Bank of England said that by the time ‘climate change
becomes a defining issue for financial stability, it may already be too
late’. Carney warned investors that policies to address climate change
‘would render the vast majority of reserves ‘stranded’ – oil, gas and
coal that will be literary unburnable’ [4].
In order to continue developing fossil fuel reserves – particularly
in the difficult areas where the remaining reserves are located
(including the Arctic, the mouth of the Amazon and tar sands in
sensitive areas) the developing companies need investment – divestment
is a way of cutting off the funds needed to carry out these damaging
activities. It also sends a powerful signal to the companies and others
that it is time to move away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy.
References:
[1]
http://tinyurl.com/y9tkm4sn
[2]
http://tinyurl.com/3e3zv
[3]
http://tinyurl.com/pqgdd5q
[4]
http://tinyurl.com/ycspl5sg
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