ENVIRONMENT: NY and London mayors urge fossil fuel action

Bill de Blasio of New York and Sadiq Khan of London on Tuesday, January urged every major city in the world to divest from the fossil fuel industries that are wrecking the planet.

As part of their global call, the mayors unveiled a toolkit for cities interested in divesting their pension funds from fossil fuels “to help avert climate breakdown.”

The toolkit “Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Investing in Our Future”: A Toolkit for Cities is a product of C40 Cities, a network of 94 municipalities whose leaders collectively represent over 700 million people and are committed to pursuing actions to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

“By taking Divest/Invest action, mayors around the world can demonstrate their strong climate leadership and signal their support for achieving the crucial 1.5°C goal,” the toolkit says, referencing the Paris accord’s aim to limit global temperature rise this century.

It lists comprehensive strategies to tackle the global climate crisis and demonstrates the financial benefits with case-studies from Berlin, London, Oslo, and Stockholm.

“There is ample evidence that Divest/Invest action on a portfolio level has no negative financial implications—indeed it may even have a positive impact—and can be fully aligned with pension fund trustees’ fiduciary duties,” says the summary.