Councillors have backed a fresh request to end pension investments in fossil fuels.
East Sussex Pension Fund holds Brighton and Hove City Council’s pensions and has coal, oil and gas investments.
Climate campaigners from Divest East Sussex staged demonstrations at Brighton and Hove town halls while wearing American Revolution-style tricorn hats as councillors debated fossil fuel investments.
The debate took place a Brighton and Hove City Council meeting at Hove Town Hall last night (Thursday 3 February).
Green councillor Hannah Clare secured backing for a motion at the meeting of the full council to ask for a two-year timeline to divest from fossil fuels.
The motion also called for the council to support the call for a “fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty”.
And a report is now due to go to the council’s Policy and Resources Committee about the options for removing Brighton and Hove City Council pensions from the East Sussex County Council scheme.
Other cities such as Sydney, Los Angeles, Toronto, Barcelona and Cambridge – and locally Lewes Town Council – had supported the treaty, she said.
It commits countries to end the expansion of oil, gas and coal production, phase out existing production fairly and invest in renewable energy.
Councillor Clare said: “I would like this council to join calls for nations to come together and come up with a plan.
“The treaty focuses on a just transition. We often say there is no resolution to climate justice without social justice. With today’s announcement of the rising cost of fuel bills, this has never felt more urgent.”
Green councillor Siriol Hugh-Jones said that the pension scheme’s remaining pot of money in fossil fuels was small and “played with” by a couple of fund managers.
She said: “Members of the fund outside this chamber would be astonished and shocked to know that their hard-earned pension funds were invested in an industry that is destroying biodiversity and polluting our land and sea and has been for decades.
“Even if you’re not prepared to listen to the science, you watch David Attenborough and remain unmoved. You might be concerned about your pension losing value because of being invested in stranded assets.”
Labour councillor Carmen Appich backed the non-proliferation treaty and the call for divestment in the East Sussex County Council pension scheme.
She said: “There are a number of authorities who are now supporting divestment across the county and across the political spectrum.
“We could ask our one representative on the pension board to demand a detailed work plan towards such divestment and towards positive investments into green and renewable energy projects across the county and across the region.”
Councillor Appich advised against withdrawing from the fund, though, because it would be fraught with legal difficulties.
Conservative councillor Joe Miller said that the motion was a waste of time and his group would abstain. He said that the pension board invested in what was best and took advice from experts – and councillors should not want to pensioners to lose income because of poor investment choices.
Councillor Miller said: “Fossil fuel investments are becoming less secure. I’m sure the investment fund is investing more in green technology going forward and green finance.
“I’m sure we’ll see more of that. I don’t think the pension committee needs to be instructed by Brighton and Hove City Council to do so. There’ll be a natural diversification anyway.”
In total, 22 councillors voted in favour of the motion, with 12 abstaining.
Are the Druitts finally back from their winter holiday in France? Hope they cycled there and back.
As a result of actions by these clueless ideologists, we are now highly dependent on global gas supplies from Russia and the Middle East and hence the astronomical increase in energy prices.
If only we hadn’t listened to Caroline Lucas so that we could have had our own local source of gas from fracking to keep us going until renewable energy was mature enough.
Please sign the petition for a Clean Air Zone (also known as a ULEZ / Ultra Low Emission Zone). This will help the move to more sustainable transport, reduce emissions and improve air quality.
Google ‘brighton current epetitions’ and select and sign the option
‘Take action on illegally polluted air by implementing a Clean Air Zone’
What has the got to do with investments in fossil fuels?
BBurning gas, petrol, and diesel in modern engines generate hardly any NOx or particulates.
I thought you were just paranoid about wood burning stoves?
Energy prices are high as we now import fossil fuels increasing our carbon footprint and prices. I say use our own MASSIVE reserves of fossil fuels and phase them out once we have something to replace then. Importing moving the carbon footprint abroad is stupid. Plus we need coking coal to make steel to make wind turbines etc so open the new mine at WHITEHAVEN instead of importing coking coal.