UK Divest have published The Pensions Pipeline on how the LGPS is fuelling the climate crisis. £16 billion of the Local Government Pension Scheme is invested in the fossil fuel industry, according to new analysis by UK Divest, Platform, and Friends of the Earth.
Our Members Forum Press Release 38 looks at the report, and the scale of these national investments and the CPF investments in fossil fuels of £120million. We also cover the Financial Exclusions Tracker a developing database on which stocks are being widely excluded by funds and investors for ESG reasons (Environment, Social, Governance).
UK Divest have produced “Mapping the Money Pipeline” a Guide for Councillors and Candidates
The Pensions Pipeline report includes a factsheet showing all LGPS Funds, and also identifies that :
- Despite clear guidance that investors should not fund new oil and gas projects, local councils are still funding fossil fuel expansion, with over £8 billion of pensions invested in companies developing new oil and gas projects. These investments are turning “public savings into fossil fuel playthings,” say environmental campaigners.
- “Expansion of fossil fuel production is not in line with Net Zero,” the Climate Change Committee warned this year, calling on industries to move away from high-carbon developments. Despite this, the total value of fossil fuel investments by local government pensions amounts to double the total market size of all renewable energy generation in the UK in 2022. It also exactly matches the £16 billion investment the UK Government is looking to unlock through its Levelling Up Fund.
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ACTION AID REPORT (September 2023) How the Finance Flows: The report looks at the banks fuelling the climate crisis, Action Aid tracked financial flows from banks to fossil fuels and industrial agriculture in the 134 countries of the Global South. Despite global banks’ public declarations that they are addressing climate change, the scale of their continued fossil fuel and industrial agriculture financing is staggering.
