Danish Divestment Campaign “AnsvarligFremtid” and members of danish pension funds are committed to pursuade danish pension funds to divest from fossil fuels
Divestment campaigners in Denmark are rocking the big pension fund boats! Within the space of just over a year, coal is quickly turning into a highly unethical no-go sector for Danish investors.
This spring, members of six Danish pension funds voted on divestment. Campaigners submitted resolutions demanding the pension funds divest from the 100 biggest coal companies and high-risk oil and gas projects like tar sands, deepwater and Arctic drilling. They also asked for documentation of dialogues with oil and gas companies.
Members of three pension funds worth €20bn voted in favour: AP (pension fund for architects), MP Pension (academics) and DIP (civil engineers). The votes by lawyers, vets and other engineers narrowly failed to get majority support.
Just a year ago, similar resolutions were lost, even though only by a small margin.
The board of the academics and architects funds signalled that they would not implement the resolution. The board of the lawyers and engineers funds – where the resolution wasn’t passed – said they would look into the financial risk of stranded assets.
Several members of Parliament – including climate minister Rasmus Helveg-Petersen – have come out saying that they want their pension savings to be free from coal investments.
Denmark’s fourth largest pension fund PKA (nurses) excluded 31 coal companies from their portfolio and will reach out to other companies invested in coal. PFA, Denmark’s largest pension fund no longer invests in tar sands.
The Danish business association for pensions and insurance have their annual meeting today. On the agenda: responsible investments, stranded assets and divestment.
Check out the Danish pension funds divestment campaign Ansvarlig Fremtid (in Danish).