We’re racking up the wins this week, as two more councils vote to back divestment and the move to a Fossil Free future!
Monmouthshire County Council and Derby City Council both passed motions calling on their pension funds to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry – backed by councillors across the political spectrum.
Click here to Tweet your thanks to Monmouthshire and Derby councils for backing divestment.
Derby City Councillor Lucy Care said:
‘We need to make our pension funds work for everyone. As more money comes out of fossil fuels and into sustainable alternatives there will be a growing risk of keeping ones’ money in fossil fuel. We don’t want our pensions invested in fossil fuels and fracking, we want investment in renewables and clean energy and need to leave fossil fuels in the ground.’
Monmouthshire’s motion asks the Torfaen Pension Fund to divest ‘at the earliest opportunity’. Torfaen currently invests nearly £250 million in fossil fuels, including over £27 million in BP alone.
Meanwhile, Derby is part of the larger Derbyshire Pension Fund – investing over £75 million in Shell. To find out how much your council is investing in fossil fuels – check out our interactive map.
Derby and Monmouthshire join 13 other UK councils – from Sheffield to Stroud, Brighton to Birmingham – in calling for divestment from their pension funds.
As he proposed the motion at Monmouthshire County Council, Councillor Martyn Groucett said:
‘I bring this motion not on behalf of the Labour group, and not even on behalf of Monmouthshire County Council. Nor primarily in the name of my children… I bring it primarily, I think, for the generation beyond that – for my three grandchildren… who risk growing up in a world devastated by global warming.’
The moves to divest have been pushed by local campaigns Fossil Free Cymru and Divest Derbyshire, who are continuing their amazing work.
Last year, the Derbyshire campaign handed in their petition with over 1000 signatures to the fund. They’re also backed by 20 local organisations – including anti-fracking groups, the Chesterfield Trades Union Council, and the Derby Student Union.
If you live locally, why not get stuck in and help use these wins to push the campaign even further? To find out more about getting involved, email ellen@350.org or deirdre.duff@foe.co.uk.