Calls for an end to fossil fuels pension investments
INVESTMENTS made to pay the pensions of local government and emergency service workers should no longer be in fossil fuels, say campaigners.
The Hampshire Pension Fund, part of the local government pension scheme, provides pensions for council workers, school staff, police officers, firefighters and more. But as the county council pushes towards its goal of net-zero carbon emissions, campaigners have pointed out that this fund - and it's investments - must be environmentally friendly.
It comes as a consultation is launched on the future of the fund.
Christine Holloway, who coordinates the Hampshire
Pension Fund Divest campaign, said: 'We hope that many people in Hampshire, whether they are in the pensions scheme or not, will take a few minutes to reply to the consultation.
'Support the good steps that are proposed, and ask them to make their target 1.5 degrees celsius.’
Campaigners want the
Hampshire Pension Fund to state the 1.5 degree celsius target in its decarbonisation plan.
As of December 2021, the value of the pension fund’s investments was £9.9bn – £214m (2.2 per cent) was invested in fossil fuel companies and £323m (3.3 per cent) was invested in renewable energy.
Cllr Mark Kemp-Gee, who heads up the pension fund board, said: 'Simply disinvesting from all fossil fuel companies is not a straightforward solution to tackling climate change - some fossil fuels are still important to support our daily lives and the transition to a low carbon economy, such as producing the steel to build wind turbines.’