Climate campaigners calls for East Sussex Pension Fund to divest from fossil fuels

Members of the Divest East Sussex hung the huge sign which read ‘ESCC: Divest Now' on Friday, November 11.

According to the protest group, the East Sussex Pension Fund, which is administered by East Sussex County Council (ESCC), currently has tens of millions of pounds of local people’s pension pots invested in the giant oil and gas companies, which they believe is driving the climate crisis.

A spokesperson for Divest East Sussex said: "This year we’ve already witnessed devastating floods displace more than 30 million people in Pakistan, Europe experience what may be its worst drought in 500 years and China experience the most severe heatwave ever recorded anywhere.

"Yet despite declaring a ‘climate emergency’ over 3 years ago, East Sussex County Council (ESCC) is still investing local people’s pensions in the giant oil companies – like Shell and BP – that are driving the climate crisis.

"In doing so, it is effectively providing cover for these companies’ ongoing attempts to block effective climate action and missing a huge opportunity to show real leadership on the climate crisis.

"It’s time for the East Sussex Pension Fund to make a public commitment to fully divest from these rogue companies.”

The Fund has been the focus of an nine-year-long campaign by Sussex climate activists, who have set up numerous demonstrations outside the Lewes County Hall this year, including a 60-hour ‘fast for fossil fuel divestment’ and encircling of the building with ‘climate crime scene’ tape.

East Sussex Pension Fund condemned the protest, stating that those that took past trespassed on council property.

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The Fund also confirmed it has reduced its exposure to the fossil fuel sector significantly in recent years, claiming it had invested around £1.5 billion in funds which have a bias to climate solutions.

A spokesperson for the East Sussex Pension Fund said: “While the right to protest is important, this incident at County Hall involved people trespassing and scaling the council building putting their own safety and the safety of others at risk.

“The East Sussex Pension Fund has a legal responsibility to pay pensions which are affordable, and not to make investment decisions for any other purpose than to generate a return.

“The Fund has a policy of engagement first and makes strategic decisions about the types of investment the Fund can hold under the advice and guidance of the Fund’s officers, external advisors and government departments. These governing bodies and advisers all favour engagement and active stewardship over divestment.

“The Fund’s exposure to the fossil fuel sector has reduced significantly in recent years. The Fund must legally invest in a wide range of assets and has invested around £1.5 billion in funds which have a bias to climate solutions, greener revenues, and resource efficiency, including fossil free equity investments.

“The Fund was named Local Government Pension Scheme Fund of the Year (assets over £2.5 billion) at the 2021 Local Authority Pension Fund Investments Awards, and highly commended for its investment approach to climate.”