NYC PENSION FUNDS VOTE TO DIVEST US$4B FROM FOSSIL FUELS

Two New York City pension funds voted to divest their portfolios of some US$4 billion worth of fossil fuel company securities, Mayor Bill de Blasio, comptroller Scott Stringer, and fund trustees said. “Fossil fuels are not only bad for our planet and our frontline communities, they are a bad investment,” said de Blasio, shown, in a statement on Monday. New York was among a dozen big cities worldwide that pledged to shift their money out of the fossil fuel industry last September, part of a broader rush to embrace renewable energy both to slow climate change and for cost reasons. The move is partly symbolic, affecting just a piece of the US$240 billion in pension assets managed by Stringer’s office. The two funds that voted to divest represent city teachers and other workers with a combined US$168 billion under management.