The global climate crisis is happening now, with extreme weather and rising sea levels threatening the lives of billions of people. Despite this, the Highland Council Pension Fund invests over £40 million in the fossil fuel firms most responsible for the climate crisis, including oil company BP and mining giant BHP.
This is despite Scotland hosting the UN climate talks COP26 and the Highland Council declaring a Climate Emergency in 2019.
Local authorities have the power and the responsibility to ensure local workers not only have a pension for their retirement, but also a future worth retiring into. Halting the extraction and expansion of fossil fuels is a matter of survival for us all.
Please email your councillors to call on them to support fossil free Highland Council pension funds, and to adopt the Highland Charter for Responsible Investment which asks the Highland Council Pension Fund to develop an ethical investment policy.
Send your email via this link https://act.foe.scot/tell-highland-council-divest-pensions-fossil-fuels, which also gives background information and suggestions on what to include in your email.
This issue is slated to be debated at Highland Council’s full meeting on 9th September. Please let your councillors know your views before then, and share with friends and family.
If you would like to get involved in the Fossil Free Highlands campaign or arrange a meeting with your councillors, email Sally Clark at Friends of the Earth Scotland.