Protestors will be outside Dorchester's County Hall demanding Dorset Council stops its investment in fossil fuels through the Dorset County Pension fund - which also has "indirect exposure" to Russian companies.

Members of Dorset Action on Pensions will outside the hall in Colliton Park tomorrow (Thursday, March 10) from 9.30am when the pension fund committee meets.

Julie-Ann Booker, of Dorset Action on Pensions, said: "There is not a single justification to keep investing pension fund members' and council tax payers' money in planet-destroying fossil fuel companies.

"Divestment is morally, environmentally and economically the right thing to do. Even the likes of BlackRock [an investment management corporation] has said there is no financial drawback to divesting from fossil fuels."

Julie-Ann is a pensioner in the pension scheme and "feels terrible" that her income is linked to this and that is why she is protesting.

"We urge Dorset County Pension Fund to do the right thing," she said, "stop funding fossil fuel, invest in our future, a genuinely green future for our children. This will also create good jobs and provide energy security, which we need now more than ever."

The group highlights a report by Make My Money Matter (October 2021) which claims that the UK pensions industry enables more CO2 than all UK carbon emissions.

It states: "Pension schemes fund an estimated 330 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year. If the pensions industry were a country, it would find itself in the top 20 carbon emitters globally.

"Making your pension green is 21 times more powerful than giving up flying, going veggie and switching energy provider. It is calling on more people to tell their pension providers to go green. It's the most powerful thing you can do for the planet."

Dorset Action on Pensions also notes that for every £1 invested in sustainable financial products instead of fossil fuels, a carbon saving of 0.64kgs is made. Therefore, divesting the £128 million currently invested by Dorset County Pension Fund will release a carbon saving of around 83,000 tonnes of CO2.

The campaign group is pleased that Dorset County Pension Fund committee has acted swiftly to discuss and assess the morality of keeping their investments in Russian companies.

A spokesman for Dorset Council said: "First and foremost, we are deeply saddened by the recent tragic events in Ukraine. Our hope is for peace and for an end to so much unnecessary suffering.

"We do have some indirect exposure to Russian companies through the pension fund's investments in an emerging markets equity fund managed by Brunel Pension Partnership, Dorset's investment pooling manager. The value of this exposure is estimated to be approximately £5m or 0.13% of the pension fund's total assets of £3.8bn. This matter will be considered by the pension fund committee when it meets tomorrow, March 10.

"We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and our reliance on fossil fuels and along with significant investment over the next five years in services for residents and in our buildings, we are working to divert our pension fund away from investment in fossil fuels."

Caz Dennett, local divestment campaigner and pension fund member, said: "If the committee can quickly do the right thing on this occasion, it demonstrates what can be done when moral obligation and political will come together.

"Now is the time to clean up our Dorset pension fund, not just from those who wage war on other countries, but from fossil fuel companies who persist with operations in the full knowledge that they are devastating life on earth.

"Please join us at County Hall to push for divestment and release pension fund members and council tax payers from the burden of financing companies who are destroying their future."

For more information, visit dtaction.co.uk

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