Credit: WWF UK / Jiri Rezac
MPs call for Parliamentary pension fund to take a stand on tar sands
| In an exciting development for FairPensions' ongoing tar sands shareholder campaign, questions about the financial, environmental and social risks associated with investments in Canada's tar sands have been raised in Parliament. |  |
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A cross-party group of MPs published an Early Day Motion on 11 March highlighting these concerns and calling on the MPs' pension fund to vote in favour of the shareholder resolutions co-ordinated by FairPensions, requiring BP and Shell to report on the investment risks associated with their tar sands projects. The Leader of the House also faced questions about the resolutions in Parliament, with Simon Hughes MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, asking about the fund's exercise of its voting rights at annual general meetings. Duncan Exley, Director of Campaigns at FairPensions, said: "Institutional investors like pension funds have an interest in ensuring that companies are financially (and environmentally) sustainable. We urge the MPs' fund to act as a responsible investor by holding BP and Shell to account over their activities in the tar sands." |
"Tar sands are a very risky investment - financially, environmentally and socially. " ... Government should lead by example and be a responsible investor; for this reason it is essential that the MPs' pension fund supports these resolutions." ~ Simon Hughes MP |
Have you taken action on tar sands? You can make your voice heard by expressing your concerns to your pension provider or to one of Shell and BP's biggest shareholders.