Climate sex strike postponed over coronavirus

A climate change sex strike due to take place next week has been postponed because of COVID-19.
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Campaigners had planned a protest outside County Hall in Lewes on Monday (March 16), but coronavirus has disrupted their plans.

A spokesperson for organisers Divest East Sussex said, “In the light of the current COVID-19 pandemic we have decided to POSTPONE the ‘Sex Strike for the Climate!’ action that was to have taken place next Monday (16 March).”

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Divest East Sussex
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The demonstration was planned to encourage people to refrain from sex with the 50 East Sussex county councillors until they ‘agree to stop funding climate change’.

It was to be accompanied by a performance of an extract from the ancient Greek play Lysistrata – in which women use a sex strike to end the war between Athens and Sparta.

Divest East Sussex is calling for the county council to stop investing in fossil fuels – which it claims the authority invests £175 million of the East Sussex Pension Fund in.

However, a spokesperson from the East Sussex Pension Committee said more than 74,000 present and future pensioners from more than 130 organisations rely on the East Sussex Pension Fund.

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They said, “Divesting from fossil fuels without proper planning could put their financial security at risk and result in the fund being unable to meet its legal duty.

“However, the committee always takes environmental and social factors extremely seriously and only four per cent of the fund is directly involved in fossil fuel investment.

“The pension fund committee has agreed to appoint a consultant to investigate the implication of environmental issues on the pension fund, particularly with regard to the long term risks of climate change.”