Labour accuses Conservatives of 'wrecking' motion on fossil fuels investment

The motion was put forward by Labour leader Caroline Baxter at a meeting of the county council on Friday (May 27).

But she then withdrew it after an amendment from Conservative Bob Lanzer threatened to ‘render it completely pointless’.

The motion had called on the pensions committee to ‘take the necessary steps to divest all of its investments from fossil fuel companies’.

Mr Lanzer’s amendment, though, essentially called on the pensions committee to carry on as is and noted ‘the divestment from fossil fuel companies that the fund has already achieved’.

A briefing note from Katharine Eberhart, director of finance & support services, said the committee had ‘invested in equity funds which either have objectives consistent with the Paris Agreement or which exclude companies extracting / refining fossil fuel, or generate power from fossil fuels’.

The removal of the motion did not go down well with campaigners in the public gallery, who made their displeasure known, prompting chairman Pete Bradbury to briefly suspend the meeting.

The pension fund is paid into by around 87,000 employees from 200 employers and is administered by the council’s pensions committee, acting as trustees on behalf of all members equally.

This was not the first time a motion calling for divestment had been tabled. In March 2021, Mr Lanzer told the council: “There’s a difference between investing in fossil fuels and investing in fossil fuel companies which happen to have a dynamic green agenda.”

Speaking after the meeting, Mrs Baxter said: “I cannot say how disappointed I am with this outcome.

“I had reached out to all parties to try and build a political consensus, with the Liberal Democrats agreeing to second the motion – sadly the Conservatives would not engage and have done everything they can to destroy the strength of our motion”

She added: “West Sussex’ Climate Change Strategy, adopted in 2020, recognised that by showing leadership on climate change we have a real opportunity to make a difference. Today, Conservatives at West Sussex chose not to do that.

“I’m afraid we were not prepared to play games with an issue of such importance to people in West Sussex.”