Croydon Council’s Pension Fund must stop investing in Fossil Fuels

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Croydon Council’s Pension Fund must stop investing in Fossil Fuels

Croydon Council

On 7 February 2022, Croydon Council formally approved the Croydon Carbon Neutral Action plan, after declaring a Climate Emergency in 2019 - and yet public money is still being invested in supporting the extraction or burning of fossil fuels.

Sign the petition before Thursday 28th November.

Please find the full petition text below.

References:

Sign the petition to divest Croydon Council’s Pension Fund from the arms trade and other companies complicit in war crimes here.

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Sutton & Croydon Green Party

To: Croydon Council
From: [Your Name]

The sudden changes to our climate are the biggest threat to humanity and our way of life that we have ever faced. We know that these changes continue to be made worse by burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) and so we need to do all we can to stop that.

Croydon Council should not be investing in supporting the extraction or burning of fossil fuels - it is completely immoral to try to make profits out of our own destruction.

On 7 February 2022, Croydon council formally approved the Croydon Carbon Neutral Action plan (1), after declaring a Climate Emergency in 2019. This set the implementation of strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) policy for the pension fund, but did not set a deadline for divestment. Platform London calculates that £78.4M of Croydon’s pension Fund is invested in fossil fuels (2), and contributes to the £867.7M invested in fossil fuels by the London Collective Investment Vehicle (3).

We, the undersigned, urge the council to build on its Responsible Investment Policy (4) and:
- Divest all assets directly held in fossil fuel companies by May 2026: This should include companies directly contributing to the extraction, production, and refinement of fossil fuels.

- Divest all assets indirectly held in fossil fuel companies by May 2030: This should include companies directly involved in the supply chain of the fossil fuel industry, who are complicit.

- Publish an annual summary of where assets are held: within, or as an addition to the Annual Report Pension Board.

- Provide a clear breakdown of how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria is calculated by the Fund’s investment managers: Greater transparency of how this mechanism is used will help improve trust in divestment action, and allow for refinement of its calculation.

- Create a public ESG portal: To help companies in Croydon understand how they can divest from fossil fuels.

- Consult unions: Formally consult unions, representing Croydon’s Council’s workers, in investment decisions and explore formal representation of unions in the council’s investment decision processes.

- Lobby LCIV: As a member of the London CIV, which was founded by London Local Authorities, and manages London Local Government Pension Scheme assets, apply pressure and work with other London Borough pension fund managers to ensure funds invested in align with the ambitions listed above.

- Feedback to Full Council: Progress made on divestment should be reported to the Pensions Committee and Full Council every 6 months.