NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and London Mayor Sadiq Khan want every city to divest from fossil fuels, and are offering a financial toolkit for doing so. This is the latest in a string of multi-trillion dollar divestment initiatives variously representing governments, investment funds, or the activist public.
These are the ones I have reported on in these Renewable Days With Ys In. Feel free to tell us about others.
London and NYC Mayors Call on Every Major City in the World to Divest From Climate-Destroying Fossil Fuels
Ahead of a forum for local leaders from across the globe scheduled for March, Mayors Bill de Blasio of New York and Sadiq Khan of London on Tuesday urged every major city in the world to divest from the fossil fuel industries that are wrecking the planet.
As part of their global call, the mayors unveiled a toolkit for cities interested in divesting their pension funds from fossil fuels "to help avert climate breakdown."
Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Investing in Our Future: A Toolkit for Cities (pdf) is a product of C40 Cities, a network of 94 municipalities whose leaders collectively represent over 700 million people and are committed to pursuing actions to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
We will soon get to this, too.
Banks ending funding in fossil fuels
Underlying this shift by major commercial and development banks is the increasing need to be seen to be supporting the climate agenda and encouraging implementation of the Paris Accord. In the same vein, there is increasingly vociferous shareholder pressure to end fossil fuel investments. Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, for example, filed a resolution requesting that Wells Fargo Bank aligned its loans and investments with the Paris Accord goals of maintaining global temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius. There is also growing pressure from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club in the US and Greenpeace in Europe to make life more hostile for coal-produced energy.
Plus investments in coal and fracking are guaranteed money-losers.
Renewable Thursday: Fracking is a Ponzi Scheme
Continuing on with the NYC/London announcement,
Bill McKibben, co-founder of the global environmental advocacy group 350.org, welcomed the new toolkit and cities' ongoing efforts in a statement Tuesday.
"Thanks to C40 and leading city mayors like Sadiq Khan and Bill de Blasio, divestment has become a standard—and crucial—part of the toolkit for taking on the climate crisis," McKibben said. "It makes no sense—morally, practically, or financially—to invest in the industries endangering our cities. And on the list of actions humans will have to take to deal with the planet's heating, it combines relatively low cost and effort with remarkably high leverage."
Referencing the frightening conditions that some major coastal cities now face as human activities continue to fuel the global climate emergency, he added: "Instead of having to move cities, let's move money!"
Cities are just part of the global movement to divest from the coal, gas, and oil industries. According to Fossil Free, a project of 350.org, Divest/Invest campaigners have secured commitments from over 1,150 organizations—including faith-based groups, philanthropic foundations, educational institutions, governments, pension funds, corporations, nonprofits, and healthcare entities—with more than $12 trillion in total assets.
18 hours ago - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and London Mayor Sadiq Khan have an urgent message to the world's cities: Ditch your fossil fuel ...
New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio and London Mayor Sadiq Khan issued a report Tuesday imploring cities around the world to divest from fossil fuel activity, citing that “time is running out” with respect to the existential threats posed to the planet from greenhouse gases.
14 hours ago
London and NYC Mayors Call on Every Major City in the World to Divest From Climate-Destroying Fossil Fuels
Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Investing in Our Future: A Toolkit for Cities (pdf) is a product of C40 Cities, a network of 94 municipalities whose leaders collectively represent over 700 million people and are committed to pursuing actions to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Chief Investment Officer
13 hours ago
“By divesting, we are taking the fight directly to the big oil companies whose greed put us in this position,” DeBlasio said in the report. “And by investing in climate solutions, we are throwing our economic weight behind a livable future.”
As New York and London mayors, we call on all cities to divest from fossil fuels
As mayors, we are not only committed to taking bold action to tackle climate change and to improve the lives of those we represent, but also to showing others the way. That’s why, ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit in California, we are calling on other cities to stand with us to divest their assets from fossil fuel companies. Today we are announcing a new global initiative for cities on divestment and sustainable investment. Working through the C40 Climate Leadership Group, London and New York will co-chair the Cities Divest/Invest forum, a global network for cities that will not only enable us to share tools, knowledge and experiences, but also to advocate for action on divestment and green investment.
C40 Cities press release: Mayors of New York and London Urge Every Major City in the World to Divest
Case studies from Berlin, London, Oslo and Stockholm reveal that none of the divested city pension funds have suffered a negative impact on portfolio performance.
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.
Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio said: “With New York City’s Green New Deal, we are leading the nation in fighting the political power and corporate money of the fossil fuel industry. We are proud to join with London and C40 Cities to offer our expertise in how to invest in the future of our planet. These are not easy steps, but they are absolutely necessary.”
Mayor of London: Divestment and green investment
The Mayor has worked with the LPFA (London Pension Fund Authority) on a climate change policy covering combined assets of just under £10 billion. This agrees to no longer consider new active investments in fossil fuel companies and for the fund to implement this policy on climate change by 2020, including all necessary divestment.
The Mayor is also calling on London boroughs to follow his lead and divest from fossil fuels.
Green investment
At the same time as encouraging divestment, the Mayor is calling on the LPFA and organisations across London to scale up green investments by pension funds. Pension assets have the potential to fund the low carbon transition and can play an important role in helping London, and the rest of the world, scale up climate projects and pursue a zero carbon pathway.