Call for Shropshire pension fund to stop investing in fossil fuels

Councillors are due to vote on whether to switch from fossil fuel investments for the Shropshire County Pension Fund.

Campaign group Fossil Free Shropshire claims that research showing that half of the world’s fossil fuel assets could become worthless by 2036 raised questions about the £2 billion fund's current investments including in petrol giants BP and Shell.

The new Nature Energy report claims that how the world will be changed as demand for oil and gas plummets over the next 15 years and renewables will become cheaper and more prevalent.

It warns that the shift to net zero will create huge price swings and the possibility of stranded assets with up to £10.3 trillion of write-offs in the fossil fuel sector.

Fossil Free Shropshire spokesman Jamie Russell said: "We’ve been warning the fund about the economic and environmental damage that comes from being invested in fossil fuels for the last two years and this report should act as a wake-up call.

"The fund has already missed out on a decade’s worth of profits as renewables investments have out-performed fossil fuel stocks. The smart money is abandoning fossil fuel stocks – which is why the UK’s biggest pension fund, the government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), has already started divesting along with many others.

"Shropshire risks being left behind if the committee doesn’t get its act together quickly."

The report’s lead author Dr Jean-Francois Mercure, of Exeter University, said: "In a worst-case scenario, people will keep investing in fossil fuels until suddenly the demand they expected does not materialise and they realise that what they own is worthless. Then we could see a financial crisis on the scale of 2008."

Last year Shropshire Council passed a motion calling for divestment from fossil fuel companies.

The fund is the pension scheme for more than 50,000 members across 200 employers, including Shropshire Council, Telford & Wrekin Council, town and parish councils, Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority and a range of other employers in Shropshire. The fund is administered by Shropshire Council.

Councillors are due to discuss divestment at a meeting on November 26.

Last year the council said it had a financial duty to pay the pensions of the 50,000 members and to ensure fund assets are well diversified and resilient when faced with risks, including the fundamental and increasing impact of climate change.

A Fossil Free Shropshire petition calling for the fund to divest has so far attracted 431 signatures on change.org.