Climate campaigners have condemned the decision to give an award for ‘LGPS [Local Government Pension Scheme] Fund of the Year’ to the East Sussex Pension Fund, saying that the Fund has failed one of the most basic litmus tests for such an award: namely, a public commitment to fully divest from the giant fossil fuel (oil, coal and gas) companies that are driving the climate crisis. The award was bestowed at the ‘LAPF [Local Authority Pension Fund] Investments Awards’ in London last night.

The East Sussex Pension Fund, which is administered by East Sussex County Council (ESCC), is the local government pension scheme covering East Sussex, Brighton and Hove. It currently has tens of millions of pounds of local people’s pensions invested in giant oil and gas companies like Shell and BP [3].

To date, Hastings Borough Council, Lewes Town Council, Lewes District Council, Brighton & Hove City Council, Bexhill Town Council, Peacehaven Town Council, UNISON, Maria Caulfield MP (Con, Lewes) and Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavilion) have all called on ESCC to stop investing in fossil fuels [4]. The Fund is likely to vote again on whether or not to make a divestment commitment at its meeting on 20 July.

Burning fossil fuels (oil, coal & gas) is the main driver of climate change [5]. Massive reductions in carbon emissions will be necessary before 2030 if the world’s governments are to follow through on their stated commitment (‘the Paris agreement’) to hold global warming to ‘well below’ 2ºC, ‘pursuing’ 1.5ºC [6]. In particular, the vast majority of proven reserves of fossil fuels will have to remain in the ground unburned [7]. Yet despite many years of the Fund’s favoured policy of ‘engagement’ with fossil fuel companies, not a single major oil company can credibly be argued to be aligned with a 1.5°C pathway [8].

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