The campaign to get organisations, companies and Pension Funds to divest from Fossil Fuel Companies is gaining momentum all over the world. So far investments totalling $8.7 trillion have been divested. Just some of the major organisations that have taken or resolved to take their money out of fossil fuel companies are:
In the UK: The British Medical Association; the Environment Agency; The Royal College of General Practitioners; the Church of England; 4 Local Authorities.
Abroad: New York City Pension Funds; the whole Country of Ireland; The American Medical Association; The Canadian Medical Association; the City of Cape Town.

In East Sussex however the County Council Pension Committee remains intransigent. It will not divest. Instead it believes that engagement with the fossil fuel companies will lead to their changing their behaviour. However when members of Keep It In the Ground Lewes and Divest East Sussex attend every Council meeting and ask the Chair of the Pension committee publicly what effect engagement has achieved he is unable to give any specific example. The Committees response is always, as it was in the Council meeting in March this year, that their responsibility is to maximise the returns on their portfolio although they have never asked their fund managers whether they can do that without investing in fossil fuels.

KIIGL will continue to ask the questions but we believe that it is time now for more direct action.

Arnold Simanowitz