# Lib Dem divest

#LibDemDivest

A Green Liberal Democrat initiative in conjunction with Freinds of the Earth and Platform London

Calling all Local Councillors.

You can shift billions of pounds of LA Pension funds away from Climate Wrecking Fossil Fuels with #LibDemDivest an easy way to start saving the future whilst saving for the future!

Did you know, up to 20% of your pension might be invested in climate wrecking fossil fuels? When Sir Ed Davey put this question out to an online poll before a debate he ran in Westminster, 73% of people shared his concern about the risks of these investments.

Despite four times more oil and seven times more coal than we could ever use already sitting in resources on the books of companies like BP and Exxon, it is likely that our retirement funds are being spent, in part, to explore for even more fossil fuels.
And to top it off the average fossil company is spending just 1.3% of CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) on renewable energy investment. A reckless strategy for our pensions and our planet.

Why? Because pension funds are used to managing money for short term returns and crossing their fingers that long term returns will follow. They are not listening to the voices of younger savers that expect returns and a planet to spend them in - not too much to ask .

The good news is, it doesn't have to be this way! Clean, high returning investments exist. So carbon-free pensions won't just be solving the climate emergency, they will also be helping pensioners switch out of increasingly risky carbon assets into much safer climate-friendly investments.

Local Authority Pensions

Local Authority Pension Schemes are big enough that they can demand a bespoke portfolio of high quality, fossil free investments. This is where our hundreds of Local Councillors up and down the country come in. You have the chance to lobby your council and the pension fund trustees to take this issue seriously and to start divesting from fossil fuels and investing in the future for the pension and the planet.

The more fossil free funds are created for the big pension fund holders, the more choice there will be for individual savers too, and the impact is multiplied. Green Liberal Democrats, working with Partners Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Platform London have created some resources to help local councillors to join our call to action #LibDemDivest to get our pension funds out of risky fossil fuels.

For your Green Lib Dem Briefing go here... >>> http://grn.lib.dm/p8D2

FoE resources can be accessed here... >>> https://urlzs.com/NVpy1... or here ... >>> https://urlzs.com/gWNVY

And the Platform London resources can be accessed here ... >>>

Click here for a snapshot of how your local pension scheme was invested in 2017 for an idea of how much exposure you have to fossil fuels. >>> https://gofossilfree.org/uk/fuellingthefire/

For Trustees wanting to understand their legal duties to manage risks such as Climate Change you can be in touch with Client Earth who have also offered their time to advise >>> https://urlzs.com/TTV6H