Switch your Nest pension and go fossil free!

Total divested: £30,500

Can you help us make Nest go fossil free?

UK pension funds, including the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), currently invest a whopping £88 billion in coal, oil and gas companies that are fuelling the climate crisis. In fact, Nest is the UK’s largest workplace pension provider, currently serving around 40% of workers in the UK (and counting!) According to Nest, it invests over £45 billion on behalf of its members and it’s committed to “stop investing in fossil fuels and work towards net zero emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.”

Despite this commitment, Nest’s default pension – its Retirement Date Fund – still invests in major polluters like Shell, Total and BP. Around the world, these companies drive climate breakdown and deforestation, poison our air and water, and violate human rights. Nest’s default pension takes our hard-earned salaries and pumps them into companies who make their billions by harming our communities, our health, and our livelihoods.

If we want a liveable future, we can’t wait until 2050 to stop funding fossil fuel companies that are destroying the planet. Luckily, in just a few clicks, you can switch to Nest’s Ethical Fund with us – and together, we can get Nest to go fossil free for all members.

What’s the problem?

Nest puts new members into its Retirement Date Fund by default, a pension that invests in big oil and gas companies like Shell and BP. Nest holds over £45 billion in workers’ money – and with a whopping 99% of members still in the default plan, that’s billions of our wages that Nest is using to prop up big polluters. Rising temperatures already cause millions of worker injuries each year both indoors and outdoors, and two-thirds of UK workers are expected to have to work in extreme heat over the next five years. High temperatures and poor air quality are both linked to a range of health conditions, like asthma, cardiovascular problems, and lung and skin cancers – and it’s the climate crisis that’s powering the high cost of living that’s hitting all workers hard right now. No matter where you work, the climate emergency is already making your job harder.

Here’s how oil and gas companies are impacting offshore workers in Scotland:

Because the UK pension industry invests billions of our wages in fossil fuel companies by default, our workplace pensions hold a lot of power over companies like BP and Shell. Pension fund managers invest our salaries into toxic companies without our say, when our money could instead be invested in renewables and local, publicly-owned infrastructure that actually benefits our communities.

Working life is hard for everyone right now, both in the UK and internationally, where BP, Shell, Total and others create dangerous work environments, destroy local economies, and poison entire communities and their food sources. This then drives food and fuel costs higher for UK workers and our families who are just trying to make ends meet. But together, we have people power. Will you join us in demanding that Nest and other workplace pension providers do what their members want and invest sustainably towards a just transition for everyone?

How can I help?

The good news is that Nest already has an Ethical Fund that excludes companies like Shell and BP, alongside other companies from the default fund that violate human rights globally, like Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

So now it’s time to use our people power and switch to Nest’s Ethical Fund together. By taking action now, we can collectively divest millions from big polluters. And let’s not stop there – by showing Nest our support for more ethical investments, we can push them to make their default plan fossil free for all members.

And don’t worry – Nest’s Ethical Fund performs better each year on average than its default fund which means switching isn’t just good for your community and the planet, it’s good for your financial future too.

Don’t know whether you’re with Nest? You should have received a welcome letter from Nest when your employer enrolled you, but if you’re not sure, you can ask your employer who’ll be able to tell you who provides your workplace pension.

What if I’m not a Nest member?

If you’re not with Nest, you can still take action with us by:

• Spreading the word. Nest serves about 40% of UK workers so you probably know someone with a Nest pension who can make the switch! Share our campaign on social media using the buttons below.
• Pledge to divest your own pension. Even if you’re not with Nest, chances are you’re auto-enrolled in a workplace pension. You can take the pledge to switch your non-Nest pension to an ethical plan if your provider has one, or push your pension provider to offer a fossil free option if they don’t.
• Call on your council to divest. Local council pensions invest £16 billion in coal, oil and gas companies. Use and share our online tool to ask your local councillors to publicly support fossil free pensions.
• Stay up to date with our fossil free pensions campaigning. Sign up to our newsletter and we’ll tell you about upcoming actions you can take to support the movement and other ways to get involved.

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Frequently asked questions