On the eve of an international summit on climate finance 100 MPs
have demanded that their £612 million MPs’ Pension Fund removes
its substantial holdings from fossil fuel companies to reflect
their concerns about climate change. The fund currently holds a
£5.6 million stake in BP and £4.9 million in Shell.
Spearheaded by Divest
Parliament - an organisation working with MPs from
across the political spectrum to address the financial,
environmental and moral risks related to their pension
investments in fossil fuels - this milestone comes as 50 heads of
state, including Prime Minister , arrive in Paris for an
international summit on climate change and finance.
MPs are responding to a rising call for divestment, with over 800
organisations and investors worth over $5 trillion having already
committed to divest from fossil fuels.
MP said, “It’s important
that, as far as possible, MPs lead by example, and this is an
area in which things need to start at our own front door. I was
delighted to support the Divest pledge and am keen to press the
government to ensure that the investment of the parliamentary
pension fund is made ethically, environmentally and responsibly.
Let’s point the way forward to an exciting future!”
Patrick Killoran from the Divest Parliament campaign
said:
‘Like the rest of my generation, I’m deeply concerned about the
impacts of climate change here and around the world. It’s great
to see MPs listening to their constituents and showing political
leadership on climate action. Investing in companies such as BP
and Shell, who continue to dig for more fossil fuels and lobby
against climate policy to line executives’ pockets, is dangerous
and wrong. I hope more MPs will join those committing to Divest
Parliament today, and prioritise concrete action to build a
clean, fair energy system for all.’
Two years ago this week, the UK government joined nearly 200
nations in signing the Paris Agreement on climate change. To meet
the commitment to limit global temperature rise to below 2°C,
with the aspirational target of 1.5°C, scientists have warned the
vast majority of the world’s known fossil fuel reserves must stay
in the ground.
Yet, the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) continues
to invest millions of pounds of MPs’ savings in fossil fuel
companies. Both BP and Shell are among the fund’s top 20 holdings
- along with mining firm Rio Tinto, British American Tobacco and
Amazon -which were made available for the first time in March
2017. The pension fund has to date been unwilling to make public
the full list of its investments.
With the value of fossil fuel companies’ stock based on their
entire fossil fuel reserves–not just the small percentage that
can safely be burned–these investments are not only
environmentally destructive, but represent a significant
financial risk. Meanwhile, the industry continues to funnel
billions every year to find and develop yet more fossil fuel
reserves. Both BP and Shell have been involved in lobbying
against climate solutions, and BP was identified at the top of a
list of firms obstructing climate action in Europe.
The 100 pledges follow the efforts of thousands of citizens
across the UK, who have written to and met with MPs from the
across the political spectrum, urging them to demonstrate their
commitment to protecting our society and shared environment from
the risks associated with burning and investing in fossil fuels.
Notes to Editors:
- Full list of signed MPs is available
here. The full Divest Parliament pledge
can be found here.
- ‘Divest Parliament’ is a
campaign working with MPs from across the political spectrum to
address the financial, environmental and moral risks related to
their pension investments in fossil fuels.
The campaign asks the Pension Fund to ‘quantify, review and
disclose its investments in carbon-intensive industries, engage
in a dialogue with fund members and publicly commit to phasing
out fossil fuel investments over an appropriate time-scale’. This
can be done by immediately freezing any new investment in the top
200 largest fossil fuel companies by reserves, and divesting from
fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds over 5 years.
- To date over 800 institutions
across the globe representing funds worth over $5 trillion
have made some form of divestment commitment. They include
universities, faith and medical institutions, cities such as
Seattle, Melbourne and Berlin, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund,
heirs to the Rockefeller oil fortune, as well as big financial
players such as Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.
Over 100 institutions in the UK have now
committed to divest, including a third of all UK Universities,
The British Medical Association, The Church of England (partial
commitment), The Guardian Media Group and several Local
Government Pension Funds.
-
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/21/bp-tops-the-list-of-firms-obstructing-climate-action-in-europe
-
Recent polling has shown that climate change
is a top electoral priority among young voters
(https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/climate-change-is-the-issue-that-young-voters-most-want-to-hear-about-cv9cx09rq)
