City officials on Monday touted a planned divestment of roughly $4 billion in pension funds from “fossil-fuel” companies, though they declined to name the businesses in question.
The New York City Employees’ Retirement System and the city Teachers’ Retirement System voted to sell off the securities, Mayor de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer announced. The New York City Board of Education Retirement System was expected to soon follow in those footsteps.
The pension funds will sell off securities “identified based on demonstrated risk from fossil-fuel reserves and business activity” within about two years years, the officials said.
“Our first-in-the-nation divestment is literally putting money where our mouth is when it comes to climate change,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Divestment is a bold investment in our children and grandchildren, and our planet.”
Stringer has championed a range of environmental causes as he runs for mayor in this year’s election.
“New York City is leading the way forward because we know the future is on the side of clean energy – not big polluters,” he stated.
During his unsuccessful 2019 presidential run, de Blasio repeatedly boasted that the city had divested $5 billion from the fossil-fuel industry, though the claim was false.
Asked for names of the companies from which the city will divest, a de Blasio spokeswoman cited part of a press release stating: “The names of companies and the final scope of the divestment will be released following the sale of all targeted securities.”
“It is our policy to only share the names of companies after we’ve executed the sale to avoid financial risks of moving markets by broadcasting specifics,” Stringer spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays said in an email.
Union leaders applauded the moves, which required their approval.
“Under the current proposal, we can confidently support a vote to divest from fossil-fuel holdings in the [New York City Employees’ Retirement System] portfolio, and most importantly do so without an adverse effect on the pension fund,” Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, said in a statement.
