In several countries during the past “corona weeks” there was a lot to do about the weak financial performance of pension funds. According to the environmental and human rights organisation Both Ends this was in no small measure due to the fact that they still invest a lot in fossil fuels.

The value of investments in companies active in oil, coal and gas has fallen much more sharply in recent months than those of companies that cannot be associated with fossil fuels. With this, Both Ends demonstrated last week, that pension funds have to divest their fossil interests faster. Because those interests not only put pensions at risk, but they also put a further burden on the planet and prevent global warming to 1.5 degrees. Research by the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, one of the funds of the rich American oil family of the same name, also shows that their fund that was established five years ago and no longer invests in oil has increased in value by 7.8% in the last five years, while the fund that still invests in shares of companies around fossil fuels had to be satisfied with 6.7% profit. And according to research by the major bank HSBC (https://www.hsbc.com/insight/topics/a-green-reboot-for-the-global-economy), companies that score well in terms of corporate responsibility and climate policy have recorded better results since the end of December. According to this study, they are more resilient and crisis-proof. And scientists from Oxford University surveying more than 700 stimulus measures in dozens of countries (http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-05-05-building-back-better-green-covid-19-recovery-packages-will-boost-economic-growth-and ) showed that in the long term, public investment in green infrastructure and renewable energy generated more jobs, higher profits and greater cost savings than traditional ‘neutral’ injections such as those made after the 2008 financial crisis. So don’t waste another crisis, is the message of former Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and Nicolas Stern, the world’s best-known climate economists, who participated in the study.

More info : www.bothends.org ; www.ox.ac.uk