From Divest Brent/Brent Friends of the Earth
For over 3 years campaign group Divest Brent have been
working to persuade the Council to divest its Pension Fund from fossil fuels. On
April 6 Councillor Matt Kelcher presented the 1,400-signature petition (including
1,200 Brent residents) to the Cabinet on behalf of Divest Brent.
Coming as it did immediately before the Cabinet discussed its
10-year climate strategy Councillor Kelcher’s hard-hitting presentation carried
added weight. Following campaigning by Divest Brent the draft strategy, which
was agreed at the meeting, included a section on the Pension Fund’s
investments.
Responding to the presentation, Council Leader Muhammad
Butt, Deputy Leader Margaret McLennan and Environment lead, Krupa Sheth all
spoke positively and in particular Councillor McLennan looked forward to
working with Divest Brent and Brent Friends of the Earth to take the agenda
forward.
In 2019 the Council declared a Climate and Ecological
Emergency and specifically agreed to redirect investments to renewable,
sustainable and low carbon funds. Indeed some investments have been made in
this area but the majority of the Pension Fund is still invested in funds which
include fossil fuels.
Simon Erskine, Co-ordinator of Divest Brent, said “We
welcome any moves by the Pension Fund to invest sustainably and to help with
the transition to renewable energy – but the fact is that whatever green
investments the Fund may have, while it continues to invest in fossil fuels it
is part of the problem. We therefore look forward to working with the Council
to develop a road-map for divestment in the short term.”
The presentation of the petition comes hot on the heels of a
report entitled “Divesting
to protect our pensions and the planet” which gave a comprehensive
breakdown of the extent that UK Councils were invested in fossil fuels. 3% of
Brent’s Pension Fund is thought to be invested in fossil fuels - £26 million.
Compared to the £40 million invested in 2017 this looks like an improvement –
until it is realised that much of the reduction is due to a fall in value of
fossil fuel investments.
The Council has admitted that, while much of the Stock
Market has suffered from Covid 19, they have lost £8 million by failing to divest
from fossil fuels before the pandemic. They are not alone in this – with UK
Councils having lost £2 billion altogether over the last 4 years – but £8
million is still a serious loss compared to the Pension Fund total of £800
million.
With the outlook for fossil fuels never worse as the
electric vehicle revolution starts to kick in and governments look to move away
from gas as a means of heating our homes, Pension Fund committee members could
find themselves in breach of their duties to protect the value of the Fund if
they do not start to move seriously towards divestment. Said Mr Erskine, “We
look forward to Brent joining Lambeth, Southwark and Islington Councils (to
name just a few) in committing to divest its pension fund from fossil fuels.”