City moves forward with plan to divest from fossil fuel industry
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The Mayor’s office announced the advisors to pension plan divestment from fossil fuels. Photo via NYC Parks Department.
By Rachel Vick
A year after Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city would divest public employees’ pension funds from fossil fuel companies, the city is moving forward with the plan by setting a series of short-term goals.
De Blasio and City Comptroller Scott Stringer announced Tuesday that the city had selected a team of advisers to help determine how three of the largest public employees pension funds will begin to divest from fossil fuels. Queens advisers include Acting Borough President Sharon Lee and Debra Dillingham, also from the BP office.
Advisers from New York Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) and New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) would “evaluate options and recommend divestment actions.”
Tony Utano, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents Queens MTA bus employees, will also advise on NYCERS fund.
TRS is largely made up of officials from the NYC Department of Education and United Federation of Teachers.
"The City has a responsibility to ensure a fully-funded pension that reflects the needs and values of the dedicated men and women that make up our workforce and the communities that they represent," said Queens Councilmember I. Daneek Miller, chair of the Committee on Civil Service and Labor. "As with past divestment programs relating to apartheid and gun retailer stock, this action is timely, relevant, and consistent with the city's longstanding tradition of responsible investment.”
According to the city, the three pension funds have around $3 billion invested in fossil fuel reserves, including holdings with Chevron, Exxon and BHP. The money will instead go towards doubling investments in climate solutions like clean energy, and in companies dedicated to mitigation, adaptation and resilience.
Contracts to oversee the shift for the individual funds were awarded to Meketa Investment Group and BlackRock Financial Management. This announcement puts divestment on track to have a viable plan by the end of this year, action before the end of 2021, and complete divestment by 2022.
Divestment is part of the OneNYC 2050 plan to build a more sustainable city. The initiative is an example of localized alternatives to a nationwide adherence to the Paris agreement; the city is “working to leverage” partnerships and visibility to inspire similar change in other governments, according to the Mayor’s office.
The NYPD and FDNY pension funds were not included in divestment plans.
