[DurhamDivest] Divestment from fossil fuels: update and actions

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Here's a quick update from the Durham Divestment Alliance with news
and easy actions you can take to support our campaign.


Durham County Council
=====================

Recent FOI requests by Community Reinvest [1] have revealed that DCC
has £128 million directly invested in fossil fuel stocks, and probably
the same amount indirectly. That amounts to 12% of the total value of
their (our) pension fund.

Whether you're a DCC employee who doesn't want to be exposed to the
climate bubble, or a council tax payer who doesn't want your cash
funneled into this destructive industry, you might object to this.

New rules (the 2016 Investment Regulations) come into effect on April
1st 2017. This will oblige DCC to publish an Investment Strategy
Statement (ISS) detailing how it intends to address the financial
risks that climate change poses. That means they have to come off the
fence and get real about this challenge.

Fortunately, we have an uncommon opportunity to make our views heard
on this matter, as we're approaching local elections on May 4th. Many
candidates are already campaigning, but the deadline for nominations
is not until April 4th, so keep an eye out for late entrants.


Suggested Actions :
- -------------------

* Write to DCC Strategic Finance department [2] asking how they intend
to deal with climate risk in their forthcoming ISS; it's sometimes
easier to get these things changed before they're published.

* Ask all of your local candidates (current councillors and
challengers) how they stand on pension fund divestment, and let them
know you'll be voting for whoever gives the best answer.

* Subscribe to the Durham Divestment Alliance mailing list [3] to keep
informed about this issue and forthcoming actions.


Durham University
=================

The university has completed its consultation in which views and
information on divestment were invited. There was a large response
with the strongest arguments and numbers being in favour of
divestment. This is now working its way through different committees
before a conclusion is announced. Big kudos to People & Planet for
their campaigning on this.


Durham Cathedral & Churches
===========================

No feedback has yet reached us about the progress of divestment
proposals in the cathedral or any faith communities, who we know have
large fossil fuel investments. If you have any news on this, please
send it to DurhamDivest at lists.aktivix.org



[1] http://communityreinvest.org.uk/
[2] http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/9931/Corporate-Finance
[3] https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/durhamdivest
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