new york unveils plans for fossil fuel divestment
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

New York unveils plans for fossil fuel divestment

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today New York unveils plans for fossil fuel divestment

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
New York - Egypt Today

New York announced plans Wednesday to sell off $5 billion in fossil fuel investments from city pension funds after suing for billions of dollars in damages from oil companies to help fund protection against climate change.

While other cities in Europe and the United States have already taken similar steps, New York hailed its move as significant as it is the biggest metropolis in the country. The city suffered billions of dollars of damage in Hurricane Sandy.
New York's $189 billion pension fund -- held for city employees such as police officers, teachers and firefighters -- currently has around $5 billion in securities of more than 190 fossil fuel companies, officials said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said staff will instruct fund trustees to start analyzing ways to divest responsibly from fossil fuel over the next five years, in a process that officials warned would not be easy and that would take time.

"New York City is standing up for future generations by becoming the first major US city to divest our pension funds from fossil fuels," de Blasio.

US President Donald Trump inflamed the world last year by announcing that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, setting off a crescendo of efforts by Democrat-run cities and states to shrink the country's carbon footprint.

A report issued at UN talks last November said those efforts would not fully counteract Trump's decision to reverse climate policies and promote fossil fuel use.

In December, the United States did not attend international climate talks in Paris, at which countries announced they were boosting investment in green energy and divesting from fossil fuels.

New York, home to 8.5 million residents and the US financial capital, is a bastion of opposition to Trump.

The city has filed a federal lawsuit seeking damages from BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell to help compensate its $20 billion plan to protect the city, economy and public services from the effects of climate change.

De Blasio drew comparisons between oil companies and the tobacco industry, which knowingly profited out of a habit they knew to be harmful.

- Courts 'not the answer' -

"New York City is taking on these five giants because they are the central actors, they are the first ones responsible for this crisis, and they should not get away with it anymore," de Blasio told reporters.

"As climate change continues to worsen, it's up to the fossil fuel companies whose greed put us in this position to shoulder the cost of making New York safer and more resilient," he added.

Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell issued statements calling the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions a global issue that required more sweeping action than lawsuits.

BP and ConocoPhillips declined to comment.

"Climate change is a complex societal challenge that should be addressed through sound government policy and cultural change to drive low-carbon choices for businesses and consumers, not by the courts," said a spokesperson for Shell.

Hurricane Sandy paralyzed New York in 2012, causing nine-foot (three-meter) floods across coastal New York and New Jersey, and an estimated $71 billion in damage.

A study published by researchers last October warned that rising sea levels from man-made climate change could prompt catastrophic flooding in New York as frequently as once every five years by 2030 to 2045.

Last month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also unveiled plans to divest state pension funds from fossil fuel investments.

In June 2016, the largest public pension fund in the US capital Washington said it had successfully purged its $6.4 billion fund of all direct holdings in fossil fuels.

Later that year, global movement DivestInvest said funds held by institutions and individuals committed to divesting from fossil fuel had reached $5.2 trillion

Source:AFP

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

new york unveils plans for fossil fuel divestment new york unveils plans for fossil fuel divestment



GMT 07:22 2017 Monday ,20 November

Honda recalls 800,000 minivans over faulty seats

GMT 07:15 2017 Thursday ,30 November

Colombian President invites UAE companies

GMT 13:44 2013 Wednesday ,07 August

Chinese game developers bet on smartphone games

GMT 10:30 2011 Tuesday ,23 August

The Arab-Spanish investment forum 2011

GMT 10:49 2017 Monday ,06 November

Britain frozen out as EU finance chiefs plot future

GMT 14:30 2017 Wednesday ,06 December

India scent Test victory as pollution makes bowlers vomit

GMT 12:32 2018 Tuesday ,16 October

Runaway former sex offender nabbed in Thailand

GMT 16:34 2017 Wednesday ,01 March

Afghan capital attack toll jumps to 16

GMT 20:32 2013 Monday ,17 June

Porsche finds a new target audience

GMT 10:13 2011 Sunday ,31 July

Distressed debt firm eyes Nakheel creditors

GMT 18:25 2016 Thursday ,08 September

Ex-Lankan president’s ‘vanity airline’ grounded

GMT 21:02 2018 Wednesday ,05 September

Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes Russia’s Urals region

GMT 18:54 2014 Tuesday ,14 January

Cobalt nanoparticles applied in designing biosensor

GMT 12:00 2013 Wednesday ,31 July

Saudi consumers given teeth whitening kit warning

GMT 14:26 2014 Wednesday ,12 February

Earthquake behind shroud of Turin image

GMT 08:58 2014 Wednesday ,15 January

\'Lone Survivor\' blows away North American box office

GMT 15:32 2015 Sunday ,27 September

Thousands march to remember Mexico's missing students

GMT 01:25 2017 Thursday ,05 January

Strong Earthquake Strikes Off Coast of Fiji

GMT 12:51 2011 Friday ,08 July

No plans to merge Gazprom and Naftogaz
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday