Dear Swansea Council Pension Fund Member/Contributor,
Extinction Rebellion congratulate Swansea Council on recently declaring a Climate Emergency.
However, the investment banks, asset managers and hedge funds Swansea Council use to invest your pension in, also fund fossil fuel projects, and some of these investment vehicles are the worst offenders in funding fossil fuel projects.
They include JP Morgan, Blackrock, Schroders, Goldman Sachs and Aberdeen Asset Management, see the links below for further information. Therefore, your individual pension contribution is still aiding the funding of fossil fuel projects.
Climate scientists are united on the science behind climate change, and say that we have to reduce CO2, use less fossil fuel and promote environmentally friendly energy. Scientists state a rise of 1.5º Celsius by 2030 could lead to irreversible climate change. This would affect all children alive today.
The Government have already stated that they will end petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040. However, the government is under pressure to bring this forward to 2032.
Swansea Council should take this into consideration now. Should there be an unexpected climatic impact, such as arctic permafrost melting, or some other event causing a rise in sea/air temperature, this date may narrow and will most probably result in less returns from future fossil fuel investments.
Therefore, members of the Pension Committee, and their professional advisors, need to take this into account now, and move away from fossil fuel investments if they want to maximise profits of Swansea Council’s Pension Fund.
To fully act on the Climate Emergency, Swansea Council needs to move away from all fossil fuel funding investment banks they currently use.
Swansea Council’s Notice of Motion to Declare a Climate Emergency, (see document in the link below), states a commitment to reduce investments in fossil fuels by 50% within four years. This is not enough.
We call for 100% divestment within 12 months.
Otherwise Swansea Council is just paying lip service to their declaration of declaring a climate emergency. If you support the climate emergency initiated by Swansea Council, and do not want to see all children alive today suffer from climate change, you need to tell the Pension Committee that you do not want your pension contributions funding fossil fuel projects and for them to be moved AWAY from fossil fuel supporting banks. Only you, individually, have the power to do this.
- https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/03/20/jpmorgan-chase-tops-banks-financing-fossil-fuels-climate-change
- https://www.aberdeenstandard.com/docs?editionId=217386d8-1480-410d-96f5-495cde03d868
- https://good-with-money.com/2018/12/12/blackrock-revealed-as-largest-fossil-fuel-investor-as-it-pushes-green-credentials/
- https://www.schroders.com/en/insights/economics/why-the-oil–gas-sector-is-energising-investors/
- https://tinyurl.com/scc-climate-emergency
Yours sincerely, XR Swansea – Divestment Team
