London Pension Fund Authority of its remaining investments

Today the London Assembly agreed a motion calling on the Mayor to reaffirm this commitment.

The motion urges the Mayor to issue a statement calling on the LPFA to commit to full divestment and requests that the Mayor immediately set out a plan for the swift delivery of his manifesto promise, including a deadline for divestment.

Leonie Cooper AM, who proposed the motion said:

“Today’s vote sends a clear signal that London is serious about tackling climate change. The Mayor was elected on a manifesto commitment to take all possible steps to divest the London Pension Fund Authority of its remaining investments in fossil-fuel industries.

We have seen the Mayor take bold steps in his first eight months in office, including tackling toxic air and combatting cold homes. It’s now time to be equally bold in climate change and make sure that London government does its bit towards a smooth transition to a sustainable future.”

The full text of the Motion is:

“This Assembly notes:

1.      That meeting the goals of the legally-binding and ratified Paris Agreement - to keep global warming well below 2 degrees - will require a rapid transition away from fossil fuel extraction, and keeping the vast majority of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground;

2.      That the divestment movement calls on institutions to immediately freeze any new investment in fossil fuel companies and divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds;

3.      The commitment by Mayor Sadiq Khan in his manifesto to ‘take all possible steps to divest the London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA) of its remaining investments in fossil-fuel industries;’

4.      That the divestment of the LPFA has cross-party backing - divestment was supported by 2016 mayoral candidates from the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green parties, who secured 89.6% of the popular vote between them;

5.      That a motion supporting the divestment of the LPFA previously passed in the London Assembly in March 2015;

6.      The commitments to fully divest the pension and investment funds of a significant number of global cities - including Berlin, Paris, Sydney, Washington DC and Copenhagen, as well as fossil fuel divestment commitments from over 600 other global institutions;

7.      That the London Borough of Waltham Forest Pension Fund passed a policy to fully divest from fossil fuels in September, becoming the first UK local government pension fund to do so.

This Assembly therefore calls on the Mayor of London to reaffirm his commitment to divesting the LPFA by;

a.         Issuing a statement calling on the London Pension Fund Authority to commit to full divestment;

b.         Immediately setting out a concrete plan for the swift implementation of his manifesto promise, including a precise timeline and deadline for divestment and what steps the Mayor’s Office will take to achieve this, in conjunction with the LPFA Board.”