Scotland's largest pension fund supports climate change

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Scotland's largest pension fund is to end investments in fossil fuel companies that are not committed to reducing emissions.Environmental groups are calling on local authorities to shift their investments from coal, oil and gas.The £24bn Strathclyde pension fund covers 12 councils, including Glasgow.It will now assess the energy sector companies in their portfolios and set minimum standards.Environmental campaigners said that although the deal would mean divestment in principle. But council members effectively postponed the decision without a clear timeline.They called for strong climate standards and a deadline to be agreed in the coming months to ensure the divestment is real.

The pension fund slotxo move was in response to a call from Glasgow City Council, which passed the move in April.Glasgow - which manages the fund - has asked the pension fund committee to formally end its fossil fuel investment before the city hosts the COP26 climate change conference in November.It added that the divestment should be completed by 2029.Energy companies in the fund's portfolio will be assessed and if they do not meet the minimum standards. Fund will be sold out.the sale will be completed "As soon as possible while ensuring that it will not adversely affect the financial stability of the fund.The standards are set by the investment manager and Sustainalytics It is a company that assesses its sustainability based on environmental and social performance.

Withdrawing capital is not as easy as it used to be. It's not that easy.five years ago It's pretty clear that companies like BP, which are drilling for oil. an evil group Whereas companies like Vattenfall building wind farms are profitable.Now everyone is everything. BP operates one of the largest electric vehicle charging networks in the UK. And Shell has invested in offshore wind in the North Sea.SSE has long been a renewable energy source. It is now Scotland's most polluted industrial facility at Peterhead Power Station.And now, a lot of engineering in the oil and gas supply chain will be used to developcarbon capture and storage technologies.So the fund manager who oversees the large Strathclyde pension fund has a challenging task ahead of deciding what is green and what is not.


'Not a panacea'

Glasgow City Council is responsible for the local government pension scheme on its own behalf. The eleven other west councils of Scotland and more than 200 employers have more than 250,000 members.Other councils covered by the project include all councils in Lanarkshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, as well as Argyll and Bute and Inverclyde.Richard McIndoe, director of the Strathclyde Pension Fund, said: "If those companies don't meet the minimum standards we set, they're going to be scammed." We were able to cancel investments from those companies.”

Fund will be able to withdraw investment from But he added that "diversity is not a panacea".The Friends of the Earth Scotland study estimated that the pension fund had 508 million pounds invested in what is known as "the cost of living." "Highly polluting fossil fuel companies" include Shell, BP, Chevron and Exxon.FoE Scotland divestment campaigner Sally Clark said: "Today's decision by council members is a good step forward. But there is still a lot to do to set Scotland's largest public pension fund on a fossil-free path.She said: "Similar funds such as the Cardiff Lambeth Pension Fund and Waltham Forest are committed to not using fossil fuels and the Strathclyde pension fund can participate.