CAMPAIGNERS have condemned Glasgow City Council’s new investment policy, stating that the council is banking on the failure of the COP26 summit.
The Strathclyde Pension Fund, which is run by Glasgow City Council, was asked to put a plan in place to divest from fossil fuel companies before the UN climate summit, which takes place in Glasgow in November.
But unless amended, the new policy is likely to see hundreds of millions of pounds of investments in fossil fuels retained indefinitely by the fund.
In its latest detailed assessment, Friends of the Earth Scotland estimated that the Strathclyde Pension Fund invests more than £836 million in fossil fuel companies. The fund’s own estimate put oil and gas investments at £316m.
A rally in protest against the investments took place outside Glasgow City Chambers yesterday, ahead of a Pensions Committee meeting tomorrow – the last before the COP26 summit.
Ric Lander, divestment campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “Fund members, community activists and the City Council have demanded the Strathclyde Pension Fund come up with a plan to divest from disastrous fossil fuel companies.
“Now it seems they’ve instead come up with a plan to carry on with business as usual.
“Continuing to invest hundreds of millions in climate polluters is financial folly and morally repugnant. Fossil fuel companies can’t survive if we succeed in building a sustainable future.”
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