Divest Strathclyde
Our Campaign
Divest Strathclyde is the campaign to get the Strathclyde Pension Fund to drop investments in fossil fuel companies and other big polluters, and re-invest the money in ethical and sustainable alternatives.
The Strathclyde Pension Fund, managed by a committee of Glasgow City Council, has £836 million invested in fossil fuel companies – including fracking – meaning that the pension fund, which is meant to safeguard the future security of workers across the Strathclyde area, is helping fund climate disaster, the worsening effects of which we are already regularly encountering.
The companies that the fund invests in – including Shell, BP, Chevron, and Exxon Mobil – continue to operate in a way that is fundamentally incompatible with international agreements to limit global heating to under 2 degrees. It is widely agreed that the vast majority of fossil fuels must remain in the ground if we are to avoid catastrophic levels of warming but fossil fuel companies are continuing to seek out and exploit further reserves.
This also makes investment in these companies a major financial risk, given that their valuation is based on activities that cannot continue. Moving our money away from destructive companies and into climate solutions is one of the most important steps we can take, one that is already being pursued by hundreds of major institutions.
Who we are
Divest Strathclyde was founded by a group of pension fund members and local residents and is run entirely in a voluntary capacity. Campaigning has involved meeting councillors, gathering signatures for our open letter, staging protests, hosting awareness-raising events, getting press coverage, collaborating with other groups and campaigns, participating in marches, and much much more.
Our past successes include researching and making publicly available the funds continuing fossil fuel investments, getting national press coverage for our protests at City Chambers, getting a place on Glasgow City Council’s Climate Emergency Working Group and getting divestment from fossil fuels included in the recommendations of this group.
How you can get involved
- Come to our meetings and get involved! Email us at diveststrathclyde@gmail.com for details about the next meeting
- Follow the campaign on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivestStrathclyde, Twitter: https://twitter.com/divestspf, and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/diveststrathclyde
- Write to your councillor encouraging them to support the campaign by using our template email
- Email us about supporting the campaign: diveststrathclyde@gmail.com
- If you are a member of the Strathclyde Pension Fund, add your name to our open letter