CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
“Heathrow third runway ruled illegal over climate change”
(9 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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Didn't realise USS owned 10% of Heathrow, hopefully this fans the flames of the divestment debate.
1) high risk of judgements like this hurting future returns
2) Obviously USS are not effective drivers of environmental policies as shareholders of polluting corporations. They failed here with 10%, how can they succeed with a 0.3% ownership of shell
Posted 5 years ago # -
USS?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Universities Superannuation Scheme.
Posted 5 years ago # -
That the pension pot for lecturers? Are they claiming to try and nudge their investments to low carbon?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Yeah, pension pot for pretty much all academic staff. The strikes at the moment are partly (/mostly) in response to increased contribution requirements.
They claim they are environmentally responsible but refuse to divest.
https://www.uss.co.uk/how-uss-invests/responsible-investment/activities/climate-change
There are three key areas in which we undertake activity on climate change:Encouraging disclosure of carbon emissions and information on how companies/assets are managing climate risks.
..
Engaging with companies to encourage better management of climate risk.
..
Engaging with policy makers to ensure appropriate climate change policies are established to encourage the transition to a low carbon economy.
"https://www.uss.co.uk/how-uss-is-run/views-from-uss/the-divestment-debate
"we can use our considerable influence as a major institutional investor to promote positive boardroom action on ESG and ethical issues"
Given other pension bodies have divested/ commited to divest I don't buy their "we're obliged to invest" argument. They're certainly not obliged to have Shell as their largest single holding (although Shell's 33% drop in value over the last ~6 months is looking likely to push it down the list soon).
Posted 5 years ago # -
Could this judgment (or a potential Scottish equivalent) be used to challenge the dualling of the A9?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Might be too late.
BUT
Was suggestion up thread that it’s a serious of projects/contracts.
So...
Posted 5 years ago # -
Certainly sets an interesting precedent. Both Scottish government and parliament have declared a climate emergency. Also set legally binding emissions reduction targets. So legality of A9, A96 etc. can be called into question potentially.
Posted 5 years ago #
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