Banner-waving members of Extinction Rebellion Bath were outside the Guildhall just recently to lobby a meeting of the Avon pension fund (APF), the Umbrella Pension Fund for former employees of Avon County Council.
APF has assets of over £100 Million, and is chaired by BANES.
In line with the global fossil fuel divestment campaign, XR Bath are calling on APF to move the remaining investments it has in Fossil Fuels into greener alternatives.
Mel Clarke of Bath XR, who is a recipient of an APF pension, also addressed APFs investment panel at the meeting last Friday. As the panel met, other members of the group unfurled banners outside in the High Street and spoke to passersby,
Mel Clarke said “Net zero by 2050 falls short of what is actually required to keep climate risk within safe levels.”
“At the meeting on Friday, members of the panel said that maintaining investments with Oil, Gas and Coal companies meant that pension funds could engage with them to persuade them to go green, but experience over the last few years have shown that this approach simply has not worked. Whilst pension funds have been engaging, fossil fuel companies have been INCREASING fossil fuel exploration and extraction”
“I’m also unhappy that the available documentation only tells me what the fund was investing in 18 months ago – recent reports on investment are now removed from the APFs meeting minutes before they are published on the BANES website. APF needs to be more open and transparent”
Heartily agree with Extinction Rebellion and would have come to support if I had known .