More than 130 MPs, including over half of the parliamentary Labour party, have signed a cross-party letter to their pension fund calling on it to divest from fossil fuel companies to “ensure that our pensions are not funding climate disaster”.
The letter, to be delivered on Monday to trustees of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF), applauds recent reductions in investments in fossil fuels, but adds: “We believe you must go a step further, divesting from the fossil fuel industry in its entirety, as quickly as possible.
“Without this, our pensions are contributing to temperatures rising above 1.5°C. If this limit is exceeded, then by the time younger members are old enough to draw our pensions, a full-blown climate catastrophe will have struck, with ice caps melted, food systems collapsed and deadly extreme weather becoming the norm.”
A total of 132 MPs have signed, including 107 of the 199 members of the parliamentary Labour party, with nine members of the shadow cabinet signing. Thirteen SNP MPs, five Liberal Democrats and two Conservatives also signed, among others.
The letter, drafted to coincide with the UK’s hosting of the Cop26 climate summit, reiterates a UN warning that current investment in planned fossil fuel extraction “vastly exceeds” the limit needed to keep global heating below the 1.5C rise mandated by the Paris agreement.
“It is recognised that as elected representatives, we have a responsibility to show leadership on the climate emergency and ensure that our pensions are not funding climate disaster,” it says. “Let us get our house in order by aligning our pension investments with a green and prosperous zero-carbon future that helps to contain global heating to below 1.5°C.
“The world’s eyes are on us. It is time that we show true leadership and divest parliament from the fossil fuel industry.”
The letter has been coordinated by the Labour MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana as part of the long-running Divest Parliament campaign, which claims the backing of more than 360 current and former MPs.
Another signatory, David Warburton, the Tory MP for Somerton and Frome, said Cop26 had put the UK “at the centre of international diplomacy and coalition-building in a pivotal moment for climate action”.
The branch of the GMB union that represents MPs’ staff this week said it supported Divest Parliament and announced that it would be launching a similar campaign centred on staff pensions. “We recognise that MPs and the Westminster community have a unique opportunity to show leadership on climate action and responsible investment through addressing the practices of their own pension fund,” it said in a tweet.
