Tag: fossil fuel investments

Anger as Lothian Pension Fund increases fossil fuel investments

Climate justice campaigners have condemned the Lothian Pension Fund for increasing its investments in fossil fuels despite the worsening climate emergency. 

The latest investment holdings list from the Lothian Pension Fund reveals that the fund’s investments in oil and gas companies have risen in value to £208m in 2024 from £166m in 2022. This increase is driven by the purchase of additional shares rather than changes in the market value of existing holdings and has arisen despite Edinburgh and East Lothian councils passing motions in 2022 calling on the fund to divest from fossil fuels in order to tackle the climate crisis.

The Lothian Pension Fund is the second biggest fossil fuel investor of all the council pension funds in Scotland. It invests in some of the world’s biggest climate polluters, including TotalEnergies, Exxon Mobil, Eni, Equinor, Shell and BP.

TotalEnergies, now Lothian Pension Fund’s largest fossil fuel investment following a recent significant purchase of additional shares, is currently developing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. If completed, the pipeline will stretch 1,444km across Uganda and Tanzania, to pump oil out of new oil fields in Uganda to be exported on the international market. It would produce 379m tonnes of carbon emissions if it goes ahead.

Joan Forehand from campaign group Divest Lothian said: “It is appalling that the Lothian Pension Fund is choosing to invest even more of its members’ pensions in companies that, despite responsible investors’ efforts over many years to get them to change course, are doubling down on oil and gas expansion plans. 

“The science is clear: we need to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels to avoid catastrophic climate breakdown, and the economic collapse that would bring. Increasing investment in the fossil fuel industry highlights the failure of the Lothian Pension Fund to adequately assess climate change risk in its financial modelling.”

Sally Clark, divestment campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “It’s unbelievable that despite the worsening climate crisis and clear support for ending fossil fuel investments from councillors in Edinburgh and East Lothian, Lothian Pension Fund has actually increased investments in fossil fuels. 

“These fossil fuel companies are driving climate breakdown and the pension fund’s managers have a responsibility to act in the best interests of their members and future generations. 

“The money moved away from fossil fuels could instead be invested in ways that support local communities and protect the planet for everyone, like renewable energy. As skyrocketing energy bills are plunging millions of people into fuel poverty across the UK, this transition is more important than ever.” 

Jane Herbstritt, climate campaigner at Global Justice Now added: “Despite the certainty of the climate emergency, TotalEnergies is pressing ahead with its climate-wrecking development of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline – displacing local communities and destroying the environment in order to profit from pumping out more new oil than can be safely burned.

“It is wholly irresponsible for the Lothian Pension Fund to give its backing to this by increasing its investment in TotalEnergies, particularly when councillors in Edinburgh and East Lothian have voted for the pension fund to divest from oil and gas.”

Divest Lothian is calling on the pension fund’s managers to stop investing in fossil fuels and to instead invest in renewable energy and social housing in order to prioritise the long-term health and well-being of its members and of communities around the world. 

Campaigners challenge abrdn’s Fossil Fuel Investments

Eco-Gamers challenge abrdn’s fossil fuel investments with Retro Arcade Game

A group of eco-gamers, Serious People, have created a video game, “Asset Manager Quest,” to help investment firm abrdn move away from its fossil fuel investments.

The group engaged staff outside their offices in Edinburgh with a portable arcade machine, challenging them to take on the role of CEO and save the company from disaster.

Serious People’s video game exposes abrdn’s $3.6 billion investment in fossil fuels. In “Asset Manager Quest”, players take on the role of abrdn’s CEO and decide whether to take the company further down its current disastrous path or towards a more prosperous future with a fossil fuel exclusion policy.

Asset Manager Quest has been created in response to the urgency of the climate crisis and the critical role investors play in either worsening or alleviating this global issue.

Asset Manager Quest’s gameplay consists of making decisions to try and fix plummeting staff morale. Besides exiting fossil fuel investments, most of these make things worse.

You can give yourself a massive bonus, accuse the media of bullying, or make staff pay for their own tea bags. Many of these choices take inspiration from recent disasters at abrdn, but there are also more satirical scenarios.

Players can leave investment banking to become a pastry chef at Edinburgh’s famous Lannan Bakery (which you can rebrand as Lnnn Bakery) or join a secret world order, “The League of Asset Managers”.

For its launch, Serious People went to abrdn’s headquarters in Edinburgh to engage abrdn’s staff with a portable arcade machine. The rest of the company’s staff had the game delivered to their inbox, while the general public encountered it through billboards in Edinburgh and ads on LinkedIn (featuring a retro remix of the viral TikTok song “Man in Finance”).

Jamie Inman, Founder, Serious People, commented: “We all want to breathe clean air and live in a thriving natural world. But abrdn is stuck in the past, pumping billions into fossil fuel companies while the planet heats up.

“Abrdn are toying with our future, so we thought we would play with theirs. Having tried every turnaround plan except this one, it’s time for abrdn’s Chairman and board to take a bold leap into the future and walk away from fossil fuel bonds.”

Oli Frost, Lead Game Designer, Serious People commented: “Asset Manager Quest is an immersive text-based game with hundreds of possible paths.

“You can join secret covens, fight undead horses, and enter celestial realms, but the most important thing you can do is stop investing in companies that continue to expand fossil fuels. The game’s graphical capabilities may be somewhat dated, but no more so than abrdn’s disastrous investment strategy.”

Alice Delemare Tangpuori, Coordinator of the Toxic Bonds Network, commented: “Every investment abrdn makes in toxic bonds helps fund a new oil pipeline or coal-fired power station. abrdn’s refusal to stop investments in coal, oil and gas amidst mounting public pressure and financial woes is a testament to its shortsightedness.

“If abrdn persists in financing fossil expansion, they’re steering the company straight into disaster.

The time for excuses and half-hearted gestures is over.

“Abrdn must stop all investments in fossil fuel expansionists to safeguard both its business and the planet.”

Abrdn is currently the fourth most exposed asset manager to toxic bonds and has over $3.6 billion invested in fossil fuel bonds issued by major companies such as Exxon, BP, Shell, and Total.

The asset management company also holds investments in bonds and shares issued by Ithaca Energy, co-developer of the controversial Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea. Despite telling campaigners in 2023 that it was reviewing its interests, abrdn remains one of the few European investors without a coal exclusion policy.

Since its rebrand in 2021, abrdn has faced significant challenges, including a drop from the FTSE 100 index, a major fall in share price, over 10% staff layoffs, and the loss of major shareholders like Harris Associates. The company’s previous CEO, Stephen Bird, abruptly left the firm in May, adding to the uncertainty surrounding abrdn’s future.

The public can join in and play the game by following this link: 

www.assetmanager.quest