Sadiq Khan and Bill de Blasio issued a joint call for cities to divest their pension funds from fossil fuel assets.

The call to action came as they unveiled a toolkit for other cities considering such divestment, Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Investing in Our Future: A Toolkit for Cities that sets out a clear pathway for cities on how to divest from fossil fuels and increase sustainable investments. The toolkit is a product of the C40 global initiative launched by Mayor Khan and Mayor de Blasio in September 2018.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “Over the last three years, London has led from the front on divesting from fossil fuels and addressing the climate emergency. At City Hall, I am working with the London Pensions Fund Authority to take all possible steps to divest its remaining investments in fossil fuel industries. However, we need all cities to act now to help protect our planet for future generations.”

The London Pensions Fund Authority’s investments in direct extractive fossil fuel now stands at 0.2 per cent of its £6.459bn of assets under management. The Fund is also undertaking analysis on how its portfolio aligns with the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement for early 2020.

The toolkit features case studies from cities around the world that have already committed to ambitious divestment and sustainable investment action, including London, New York, Melbourne, Berlin and Stockholm, and reveals that none of the city pension funds that have already divested from fossil fuel assets report having suffered a negative impact on portfolio performance and some have seen better performance from their fossil-fuel free investments.

Share Story: