Conservative and R4GV councillors block Lib Dem call for action on fossil fuel investments

Last night, Guildford Borough Councillors were tied 13 to 13 in a vote on a motion calling for Surrey's local government pension scheme to stop new investments in fossil fuels and phase out its existing investments by 2030. The Mayor, Dennis Booth (R4GV), declined to use a casting vote to break the tie, which meant that the motion failed.

The vote had been tabled by Liberal Democrat councillor George Potter, the Lead Member for Climate Change at Guildford Borough Council, and asked the council to write to Surrey Pension Fund, of which it is a member, to include ending its investment in fossil fuels as part of its response to climate change.

However, the debate on the motion saw the council split down party lines with multiple Conservative and R4GV councillors speaking out in opposition to the idea of divesting from fossil fuels. The vote ended in a tie with thirteen votes in favour and thirteen against, with all the votes against being cast by Conservative and R4GV councillors.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Guildford, Zöe Franklin said:

"It is bitterly disappointing that, Conservative and R4GV councillors have once again shown that they just do not consider the climate emergency to be a priority.

"Many other councils up and down the country, of all political colours and including others here in Surrey, have already made similar calls for local government pension funds to stop investing taxpayers' money in fossil fuel companies who are driving climate change and which risk being left behind as the world economy rapidly shifts in a green direction.

"It was encouraging to see Liberal Democrat, Green and two R4GV backbench councillors unite behind the goal of using the Council's voice to take action against climate change. However, their efforts were blocked by seven Conservative and six R4GV councillors, including R4GV's leader, Cllr Bigmore, and every R4GV member of the council executive.

"Last night's vote demonstrates the difficulties of getting meaningful action on climate change passed by a no-overall-control council, and it is now clear that the only way this will change is if residents vote, in next May's election, for councillors who genuinely believe in the importance of the climate emergency, instead of those merely paying lip-service to it while defending corporate interests."

The votes in favour of the motion were cast by 10 Liberal Democrats, 2 R4GV and 1 Green party councillors. The votes against were cast by 7 Conservative and 6 R4GV councillors.

Opening the debate, Cllr Potter had said he believed the motion should be "uncontroversial" as it aligned with Guildford Borough Council's declaration of a climate emergency in 2019. He argued that, as Surrey Pension Fund is currently developing a new Responsible Investment policy, it was the right time for councillors to ask that the Fund consider phasing out its £108 million investments in fossil fuels as part of their response to climate change and that doing nothing was incompatible with a commitment to a greener, sustainable future.

Surrey Pension Fund is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme. It has assets of more than £4.3bn invested, providing pensions for organisations including County, District and Borough councils in our area.

The Liberal Democrat motion called for the Fund to:

• Immediately freeze any new investment in the top 200 publicly-traded fossil fuel companies.
• Sell off investments in fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds by 2030.
• Set out an approach to quantify and address climate change risks affecting all other investments.
• Actively seek to invest in companies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimise climate risk.
• Ensure that the overall investment portfolio is aligned with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

Further Information:

Webcast of the debate: https://guildford.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/722311/start_time/4920000

Surrey Pension Fund Value £4.3bn, includes £108m (2.5%) investment in Coal, Oil and Gas - Source: https://www.divest.org.uk/councils/

Surrey Pension Fund: https://surreypensionfund.org/about-the-scheme/about-the-pension-fund/

Notice of Motion - Declaring a Climate Emergency, GBC Meeting 23rd July 2019:

https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=159&MId=863