Protest at County Hall calls on council to ‘stop dragging their feet’ on climate change

The protest, timed to coincide with a meeting of the East Sussex Pension Committee, took place after voting on three fossil fuel motions, originally proposed last September, was delayed for a second time.

The East Sussex Pension Fund, which covers Brighton & Hove as well as East Sussex, is administered by East Sussex County Council (ESCC). It currently has tens of millions of pounds of local people’s pension monies invested in oil and gas companies like Shell and BP.

A spokesperson for Divest East Sussex said: “It’s outrageous that more than four years after declaring a ‘climate emergency’, East Sussex County Council is still dragging its feet on climate action and further delaying a vote on something that it should have done ten years ago. Namely, to stop investing local people’s pensions in the giant fossil fuel companies – like Shell and BP - that are driving the climate crisis.”

The three divestment proposals were made by Cllrs Georgia Taylor and David Tutt – both of whom sit on the Pension Committee - at the September 2023 Pension Committee meeting. Voting on the proposals was delayed pending further analysis by the Fund’s officers and advisors, which is not yet complete.

The three proposals included a commitment that the Fund to make no new investments in fossil fuel extractors and to fully divest from fossil fuel companies within five years, to exclude the Fund from fossil fuel extractors who fail to commit to ‘no new fossil fuels’ by September 2024, and to divest from coal companies within one year.

Pension Fund member Sarah Hazlehurst, who will turn 65 next week and start receiving her ESPF pension, said: “The best birthday present I could have when I start receiving my East Sussex pension next week would be a commitment by the East Sussex Pension Fund to stop investing in the fossil fuel companies that are wrecking the climate and jeopardising all our futures.”

A spokesperson for the East Sussex Pension Fund said: “The Fund makes decisions around investments within a fully governed process, with professional advice and full information about the financial and legal implications. When the Fund is not in possession of the appropriate information to enable this process to take place, it is proper to pause a decision until it is available. Once this information is available, the Pension Fund Committee will receive the appropriate report at a future meeting.

“The Fund’s primary responsibility is to pay pensions to its 82,000 pension scheme members, and must make investment decisions to generate a return in order to achieve this.

“The Fund invests in line with regulation and only invests indirectly through investment managers and not in any company directly. It has a strong focus on responsible investment in its stewardship of assets and takes climate risk and environmental, social and governance factors into account when investing.

“The Fund has removed fossil fuel companies from its equity allocation within the investment portfolio and has also reduced the exposure in other parts of the portfolio. Instead the Fund has a focus on investing in climate solutions, greener revenues, and resource efficiency.”