Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is amongst a group of politicians calling for action to tackle climate change
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has joined the calls for an end to fossil fuel investments at Westminster.
A cross-party group of more than 100 MPs and former politicians is calling on the £612 million Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund to stop investing in coal, oil and gas companies.
The pledge calls for action to tackle climate change and the phasing out of fossil fuel investments over an appropriate timescale.
The Labour leader and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell became the 99th and 100th MPs to sign the pledge.
Corbyn said: “Two years on from the historic Paris Agreement, our country must show leadership in confronting the existential threat posed by climate change. One contribution we can make as MPs is to end the investment from our pension fund in fossil fuel industries, which is why I have signed the pledge.”
Ian Blackford, SNP leader at Westminster, is another of the politicians to have signed the pledge.
‘’I want Scotland to continue to build a prosperous, low-carbon economy,” he said. “We have already exceeded our world-leading climate change goals and our renewable energy targets too, but we must remain ambitious for the future and can always go further. It is important that our investment decisions support this ambition.''
Ric Lander, campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “Climate change is already affecting millions of people as rising seas and extreme weather destroy whole communities. We urgently need to cut our emissions – but this change won’t happen if our leaders continue to bet their pension on companies who will lose out if we go green.”
