Green councillors have failed in a bid to get Trafford Coincil to request Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) withdraw its investments from fossil fuel industries - known as ‘divestment’.
The Labour-controlled authority voted down a motion by Coun Geraldine Coggins calling on the trustees of the GMPF to ‘stop pumping money into the dirtiest industries in history’.
Eight other authorities in the city region - Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Stockport, Salford and Wigan - have all called for divestment.
However, Tameside council, which has 11 councillors on the 20-strong board of trustees and now Trafford, have not. Addressing last night’s (October 16) full council meeting, Coin Coggins said: “The pension has about five to six per cent of its funds invested in Shell, BP and other fossil fuel giants. “The amount of money [invested] has gone up from about £1bn in 2019 to £1.3bn today. [Five years ago], the council agreed these funds were likely to become stranded assets with 80pc of them being kept in the ground in order to prevent runaway climate change.