Divestment commitments

Globally, 1,600 institutions have made public commitments to divest from fossil fuels. According to Stand.Earth, the value of institutions divesting across the world amounts to more than $40 trillion — click here to access the global database.

There is no one blueprint for an effective fossil fuel divestment policy, but notably commendable commitments have included a clear, time-bound commitment to divest from fossil fuels with regular reporting and accountability structures.

The strongest commitments also place divestment from poorly behaving companies within a broader framework that includes investment in sustainable technologies and infrastructure, consideration of climate impacts across portfolios, and broader investor and public policy efforts to address the climate crisis.

Local government commitments

Five local authority pension funds have committed to fully divest from fossil fuels:

South Yorkshire and Haringey have committed to divesting from coal.

In addition to the above, many more local authorities have voted in favour of divesting their pension funds. Click here for a list of council motions.

Wondering why your council’s pension fund isn’t listed here? Many of the UK’s local authority pension funds are steadily reducing their exposure to fossil fuels as a means of delivering on “net zero” commitments or in order to reduce financial risk. Our list only includes funds that have made an explicit, public commitment (or policy change) to stop investing in fossil fuels, as opposed to potentially temporary shifts away from high carbon investments, which are often not publicised by the fund. To level up their climate ambition, these councils now need to divest the rest and be vocal about ending fossil fuel investment.

Faith commitments

Dozens of churches across a number of denominations and networks make a commitment to divest from fossil fuels.

click here for faith commitments

University commitments

100 UK universities have committed to divest from fossil fuels. People & Planet is also campaigning for UK University Careers Departments to end recruitment pipelines into the oil, gas, and mining industries.

click here for university commitments

Case studies

The following case studies give a picture of how institutions of different scales may seek to implement divestment within their own contexts. We hope these will be a useful resource for campaigners seeking to convince their own target institutions that divestment is possible.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) is a US $268 billion fund providing pensions to over one million public workers.

In December 2020, the fund announced a comprehensive new policy to address the climate crisis likely to result in divestment from fossil fuel companies, with additional measures to increase investments in climate solutions to US $20 billion.

State comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli said “New York State’s pension fund is at the leading edge of investors addressing climate risk, because investing for the low-carbon future is essential to protect the fund’s long-term value.”

The fund is using in-house staff and consultants, including Carbon Tracker, to assess the performance, outlook and transition readiness of its fossil fuel holdings. Reviews of all fossil fuel holdings including any resulting divestment must be completed by December 2024.

Activities which will flag companies for review include fossil fuel production, oil and gas servicing, and fossil fuel transportation and storage, such as pipeline operators and Liquified Natural Gas terminals.

Assessments are being carried out in tranches according to Global Industry Classification Standard sub-sectors, with the outcomes – i.e. which companies have been earmarked for divestment – published on completion.

The first tranche was completed in June 2020 and saw divestment of 22 thermal coal companies that exceeded a 10% revenue threshold and failed to evidence a rapid exit from fossil fuels. Tar sands were reviewed in the second tranche, with seven companies divested in April 2021.

In August 2021, the fund began a review of its significant investments (US $640 million) in shale oil and gas companies while announcing divestment from 5 further coal companies. In 2022 the Fund will then begin to review other oil and gas holdings; oil and gas equipment and services; and oil and gas storage and transportation.

New York State hasn’t published the criteria it is using to carry out this assessment, but according to US organisation Stand.Earth who have been speaking to the Comptroller’s office about the ongoing process, the following are taken into account:

  • Capital expenditure on expansion projects
  • Investments in non-fossil fuels
  • Diversification
  • Reporting
  • Responsiveness to their requests for more information
  • Carbon disclosure*
  • Climate-related goals of the companies including the strength and detail of any plans to get to zero emissions

Companies which are not earmarked for divestment are subject to annual reassessment with progress reports published annually. The first of these was published in April 2021.

New York City’s pension funds, which are held separately from the State, are worth US $190 billion. It announced its intention to divest from fossil fuels in January 2018, with the Mayor announcing in January 2021 that US $4 billion in fossil fuel holdings would mostly be sold by the end of the year. The City’s pensions are also increasing investment in climate solutions to US $6 billion.

* Specifically company disclosures promoted by the organisation CDP: https://www.cdp.net/en/scores

Sources:

In September 2016, the London Borough of Waltham Forest became the first local authority in the UK to announce full divestment of its pension funds away from fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal. This will reduce the funds available to companies driving these polluting industries, which increase carbon emissions and accelerate climate breakdown.

The council surveyed divestment opportunities in 2017 and 2018, with the first transfers of money in 2018 and 2019. Total divestment is due to be completed by April 2022.

Waltham Forest remains the only council to take such action. In 2021, about £10 billion of investments in fossil fuels were still held by local government pension funds across the UK, even though more than 75% of councils have declared a climate emergency. Divestment is a clear way for authorities to follow through on climate promises.

What impact has the project had?

By the end of the financial year when the divestment announcement was made (March 2017), Waltham Forest’s pension fund held £53.4 million of oil, gas and coal stocks (6.6% of the fund’s total value). By December 2018, that figure was £30 million, a 44% reduction.

By 2021 this proportion had further dropped, leaving only £3.5 million still to divest – huge progress in just a few years. In September 2022, Waltham Forest confirmed that it had sold the last of its fossil assets, making it the first local authority pension fund to fully divest.

Waltham Forest’s pioneering example has provided a blueprint for others to follow. Four other local authority pension funds (Islington, Southwark, Lambeth and Cardiff) have committed to fully divest, with countless others now moving large proportions of their investments out of fossil fuels and into fossil-free funds.

Waltham Forest has committed to using the pension fund to make green investments, when suitable competitive opportunities arise, in order to benefit its communities and the environment.

What resources were needed?

There are few direct financial costs incurred when divesting. To implement divestment, Waltham Forest appointed three new managers tasked with identifying emerging markets where investments could be transferred to stocks with minimal carbon footprints.

Lessons learned - fund pooling

Most councils in the UK invest through pooled funds. Waltham Forest belongs to the London Collective Investment Vehicle (London CIV), which manages the pension funds for all 32 London boroughs.

Waltham Forest Council was reliant on the London CIV having appropriate alternative options available for investment. This caused delays and complicated the goal of divestment.

Pooled funds may not have objectives that match up to an individual council’s wish to divest, but pooling also offers an opportunity for extended influence. Waltham Forest wants to work with the London CIV to help identify alternative investment options for all London councils.

Testimonies from councillors

“The council has made significant progress toward its ambition of divesting from fossil fuels by April 2022. Divesting from fossil fuels is part of the pension fund’s response to climate change and the inevitable movement toward a global low-carbon economy.”

Councillor Johar Khan, Pension Fund Committee Chair at Waltham Forest Council.

“I am proud of the work done to reduce the council’s pensions fund investment in fossil fuels – but we cannot rest on our laurels. There is still much more that must be done to tackle the climate emergency and safeguard the environment for future generations, and we will continue to work toward reducing our investments in fossil fuels to help achieve that future.”

Councillor Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment at Waltham Forest Council.

Read the full case study here.

The London Borough of Islington Pension Fund was valued at £1.4 billion in 2021 with 21,000 members.* 46% of the Fund is invested in public equities and 25% in property.

Islington’s fund uses the term ‘decarbonisation’ to describe the process of removing the exposure of its investment portfolio to fossil fuel reserves and production, as well as green-house gas intensive activities. The Fund is also keen to exploit opportunities presented by the transition to a low-carbon economy. It has implemented a number of relevant measures in recent years:

  • In 2017 the Fund moved half of its passive equities to the low carbon tracker funds with the other half invested in-house tracking the FTSE UK Low Carbon Optimised Index.
  • In 2018 the Pension Fund Committee committed to divestment of all fossil fuels in the Fund by 2022, to be enacted by divesting its own holdings and switching to fossil-free passive funds.
  • £172 million initially allocated to sustainable infrastructure. The target was increased to 20% in 2021.
  • Ongoing effort to fully decarbonise the portfolio as a “next step” after divestment from fossil fuels. Targets are set for 2026, 2030 and 2050.
  • Comprehensive carbon foot-printing and Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) review conducted of the whole portfolio annually, in line with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
  • Appointment of a fund manager with ESG specialism, a low-carbon infrastructure manager, and advice sought from Mercers and others.
  • Councillors and officers attend specialist climate transition, objectives, framework and implication training.

Minimum standards for companies to determine if divestment is required are as follows:

  • Assessment of absolute potential emissions in CO2 equivalent, a reserves-based measure that focuses on emissions that could be generated if the proven and probable fossil fuel reserves owned by the companies in the portfolio were burned.
  • Assessment of the carbon intensity of companies as measured by Weighted Average Carbon Intensity, an indicator of current climate-related risks facilitating comparison across asset classes and industry sectors.

Since 2016, Islington’s policies have resulted in a 55% reduction in fossil fuel exposure, 69% reduction in absolute potential emissions and a 33% reduction in current carbon intensity.

On financial performance, Islington is in the top quartile of performance in the local government scheme, and in the three years since its divestment policy has taken effect, has outperformed the scheme average.

* Specifically company disclosures promoted by the organisation CDP: https://www.cdp.net/en/scores

Sources:

People & Planet and SOS-UK have developed a number of case studies documenting the strategy and tactics that allowed student campaigners to win divestment commitments from their institutions.

Read the case studies: