Hastings campaigners' warning on fossil fuels investment

Campaigners blew bubbles outside a Hastings council meeting to raise awareness of the risks of fossil fuel investments by local authorities last night (Wednesday, February 10).
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Feb 2016, 15:43 BST
Updated 17th Feb 2016, 07:15 BST

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Fossil Free Hastings campaigners outside the town hall before the Hastings Borough Council meetingFossil Free Hastings campaigners outside the town hall before the Hastings Borough Council meeting
Fossil Free Hastings campaigners outside the town hall before the Hastings Borough Council meeting

Fossil Free Hastings handed out leaflets outside Hastings Borough Council to warn people about the dangers posed to pensions by the ‘carbon bubble’.

East Sussex County Council currently has £172m of local people’s pensions invested in the oil, coal and gas industries and the campaigners are calling for action.

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“The county council’s £172m worth of investments in coal, oil and gas are a clear and present danger both to the climate and to local people’s pensions,” a Fossil Free Hastings spokesman said.

“Numerous organisations around the world, including Oxford City Council, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the World Council of Churches, the British Medical Association and the University of Glasgow have all made divestment commitments.

“We urge Hastings Borough Council, a contributor to the East Sussex Pension Fund, to join them by calling on East Sussex County Council to rid itself of these dangerous investments.”

The bubble is what economists call the over-valuation of oil, coal and gas reserves held by fossil fuel companies which could ‘burst’ if the reserves are left in the ground to avert climate change.

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Related topics:East Sussex County CouncilHastings