Petal Protest Over Climate Change Forces SCC Pension Fund Meeting to Adjourn

Published on: 8 Jun, 2019
Updated on: 12 Jun, 2019

Climate change campaigners at Surrey County Hall just before protesting at a Surrey Pension Fund committee meeting.

Rebecca Curley

local democracy reporter

Protesting climate change campaigners forced a Surrey council meeting to adjourn over investment of pension money into the oil industry.

The Surrey Pension Fund (SPF) committee, meeting in the Ashcombe Suite of County Hall, had to be halted on Friday (June 7) as campaigners walked around the room scattering flower petals and singing.

They also distributed posters and leaflets as councillors, officers and pension fund managers walked out. The meeting resumed 20 minutes amid the petals later after the protesters had left the building.

The meeting had started with questions from Surrey residents, campaigners and members of Extinction Rebellion Godalming, asking about SPF investments in companies which use or promote fossil fuels.

Resident Stephen McDonald asked when SPF would remove investment from the fossil fuel industry. And Kathy Higham asked how much is invested in renewable energy and ethical organisations.

Papers at the meeting showed 8.9% of SPF’s total fund value is invested in low carbon and infrastructure. Chris Neill from Extinction Rebellion Godalming said he was appalled that £145m was invested directly into the fossil fuel industry.

He asked the committee to “take urgent and immediate steps to divest this very large sum of money from the fossil fuel industry and to invest it instead in infrastructure and renewable energy”.

The last question was posed by 10-year-old Melie Foussat from Godalming, asking what the committee was going to do to secure her future.

Committee chairman Cllr Tim Evans quickly said they were taking climate change “very seriously” and they were acting with “appropriate and sensible urgency”.

“We have taken a course of action that allows us to engage with these companies and try to encourage them to change. If they don’t and resist it then we will have to rethink that. You may not think we are acting fast enough and that divestment is better, but we don’t agree with that.

“I think we are doing the right thing. We think it’s the best way forward. It’s not the only way forward, but we think it’s the best way forward.”

Dozens of protesters around Millie kept repeating her question and started to sing and walk around, scattering the petals and forcing the meeting to adjourn.

SPF is among 58 investors who have co-filed the Climate Change Action 100+ shareholder resolution at BP. The resolution directs BP to include in its Strategic Report a strategy in line with the Paris Agreement along with annual progress reporting.

SPF is part of the national Local Government Pension Scheme. Surrey County Council is responsible for managing the fund which has more than 120 employers including the county, borough and district councils, universities, colleges and private companies.

The fund, with assets in excess of £2 billion, has more than 300 employers participating including the county, borough and district councils, universities, colleges and private companies. The fund has more than 105,000 [this figure was previously given as 75,000, apologies for the error] current, deferred and pensioner members.