MELBOURNE, 27th October: The City of Melbourne has tonight committed not to invest in fossil fuels, making it the tenth and largest Australian City Council to join the global fossil free movement. The motion, which was put up by Councillor Arron Wood was passed with unanimous support. It commits Council to:
- not investing in fossil fuel or fossil fuel aligned companies
- call upon their default superannuation fund – Vision Super – to create a fossil fuel free investment option for its members
- consider fossil fuel exposure when deciding which banks to award Council’s transactional banking contract when services are next tendered
Announcing Council’s commitment, Councillor Wood said:
“To transition to a clean energy future is not only good for the environment, it is a very smart long-term business decision.”
Responding to the news, 350.org Melbourne member Grace Fitzgerald said:
“Melbourne City Council has again proven itself to be a climate leader. Council has already committed to being carbon neutral, and now the people of Melbourne can rest assured that Council’s money won’t be invested in projects that drive dangerous climate change.”
“If we want to avoid dangerous climate change, fossil fuels must stay in the ground. In divesting, Council has sent a strong message to financial institutions and political leaders that it makes no sense to be backing companies and projects that guarantee us an unsafe and unjust future.”
“By committing to fossil free investments, Melbourne City Council is in good company. It joins cities like Canberra, Oslo, San Francisco and Seattle and institutions like the Australian Academy of Science who all recognise that it is unacceptable to profit from wrecking the planet by investing in fossil fuels.”
“We look forward to all Australian capital cities following in Melbourne and Canberra’s footsteps and joining the more than 400 institutions who are moving their money out of coal, oil and gas. With the Paris climate talks just a month away, there’s never been a better time to put your money where your mouth is and divest.”
“It is high time that our Federal Government started following the climate leadership of local Governments like the City of Melbourne instead of approving massive new fossil fuel projects, like Adani’s Carmichael mine,” concluded Ms Fitzgerald.