The Greater Manchester Pension Fund has almost £1.8bn invested in fossil fuel companies, more than any other local government pension fund in the UK. That is the money that Fund members have paid in to secure their future, not to wreck the planet’s climate.
The Fund is now asking for our views on how it should invest its money and I thought you might be interested to respond. A strong message from Fund members and local residents will add weight to existing pressure to change the way the Fund invests its money.
I’ve included some links to enable you to do this below.
The deadline is 19 November.
Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested.
A bit of background
These investments are contributing to climate change, run counter to all the local sustainability strategies and we believe are not good long term investments from a financial point of view.
I’ve been involved in a local campaign (Fossil Free Greater Manchester) which has been discussing this with the Fund. The Fund say they are working to engage with fossil fuel companies to reduce their emissions but we see no progress, no clear deadlines or evidence that this will have an impact.
Hundreds of organisations globally have taken their money out of fossil fuels, including a growing number of UK local authorities. The TUC, UNISON and a number of local MPs and councillors also support divestment.
We are calling for GMPF to:
- Immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies;
- Divest from companies involved in the exploitation of coal and unconventional oil or gas within two years and all fossil fuel companies within 5 years;
- Work with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to develop and fund a low-carbon investment programme for Greater Manchester.
You can give your views here on a simple form:
https://www.gmpf.org.uk/investments/draftstrategy.htm
Fossil Free Greater Manchester website which has more background information and ways to get involved:
The Fund’s strategy is here (section 9 is the relevant part):
https://www.gmpf.org.uk/documents/investments/draftstatement.pdf
manchester climate monthly 