East Sussex residents call on council to stop investing pension funds into fossil fuels

The protest, carried out by Divest East Sussex, was timed to coincide with a council meeting on the impact of the East Sussex Pension Committee’s proposed investment principles of 2023, discussing the impact of divestment versus engagement in respect to fossil fuel companies.

The protestors carried giant A1-sized reproductions of dramatic front-page newspaper coverage of the climate crisis from July, whilst using an amplifier to play excerpts from recent speeches by the world's leading diplomat, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, into County Hall.

A spokesperson for Divest East Sussex said: "As long as it continues to cling on to its remaining investments in fossil fuel companies, the county council is effectively providing a fig-leaf for these companies’ ongoing attempts to block effective climate action and missing a huge opportunity to show real leadership on the climate crisis.

"By contrast, a public commitment to ditch these investments (‘divestment’) would send a powerful signal to policymakers to get serious about tackling the climate emergency, which requires the rapid phasing out of fossil fuels.

"Moreover, the recent analysis of these issues commissioned by the Fund appears to show that the commitment that we've long been calling for would be fairly straightforward to implement and would have no significant negative repercussions for the Fund's overall strategy. It's time for ESCC to change tack and make a commitment to fully divest from the fossil fuel companies that are driving the climate crisis.”

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The Committee’s investments in fossil fuel companies have been the focus of a ten-year campaign by East Sussex residents.

Rother District Council, Robertsbridge Parish Council, Bexhill Town Council, Hastings Borough Council, Brighton & Hove City Council, Lewes Town & District Councils and Peacehaven Town Council have all publicly backed divestment from fossil fuels, but the County Council’s Pension Committee has yet to make such a statement.

A spokesperson for the East Sussex Pension Fund said: “The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting included an item on Investment, including the Fund’s proposed 2023 Investment Strategy Statement and Statement of Responsible Investment Principles, together with a research paper, produced by the Fund’s advisors, on the impact of divestment versus engagement in respect of fossil fuels. However, the agenda did not include any recommendation to stop investing in fossil fuels.

“During the meeting, three proposals that impacted on the Fund’s investment approach and makeup were presented. As these proposals went beyond what was covered in the report and had not been shared with all members of the Committee prior to the meeting, a discussion on the proposals was deferred until a future meeting, in line with governance best practice, to enable the financial and operational implications to be assessed and reported back to the Committee.”