Metro mayor Dan Norris is calling on the region’s local government pension scheme to cut links with fossil fuels. The Labour head of the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), whose staff are members of Avon Pension Fund along with thousands of employees from the region’s four councils, has tabled a motion to the Weca committee on Friday calling on the scheme to “divest entirely from fossil fuel stocks” and commit to 2030 carbon neutrality.
Concerns have been raised that severing ties with traditional oil, coal and gas companies will also mean slashing investment in green energy because firms like Shell and BP are also world leaders in newer, clean technologies. And the flip side of that argument is that most of the biggest green power providers still earn a small proportion from older, dirtier resources, so divestment would withdraw funding for businesses critical to low-carbon goals.
But Mr Norris is siding with Green politicians, who are campaigning for divestment, and against some Labour ones who oppose the move. Mr Norris’s motion says: “In light of the climate emergency and the West of England’s 2030 net zero target, the West of England Combined Authority calls on the Avon Pension scheme to match this ambition by committing to having a carbon neutral pension fund by 2030 or earlier; and to divest entirely from fossil fuel stocks.”
