New York City’s largest pension funds have voted to initiate full fossil fuel divestment, selling off an estimated $4Billion of holdings in fossil fuel corporations, such as ExxonMobil.
The city’s announcement fulfills its commitment to divest from fossil fuels.
NYC’s pension funds, valued at $239Billion, are the largest municipal pension funds to divest globally.
The city’s divestment commitment, made in 2018, inspired further action worldwide. It was followed by commitments from many other large funds, including the City of London, the Norwegian Sovereign Fund, and the New York State Common Retirement Fund. Today’s announcement confirms the City’s commitment to divest from fossil fuels within five years.
Divestment has exploded over the past decade from a symbolic action by small college endowments into a worldwide movement that has led to over $14Trillion worth of investment funds divesting or committing to divest from the oil, gas or coal industries.
In order to fulfill the Paris climate agreement’s goals of staving off catastrophic climate change, all major finance of fossil fuels and deforestation must end by 2030.
