Press release from Surrey Green Party

A campaign to get the Parliamentary Pension Fund to divest from fossil fuels has won support from 200 MPs – but none of the Surrey MPs has signed up yet.

The list includes Conservative MPs from around the country and Surrey Greens are urging the 11 MPs in Surrey to jump on board.

“I’m in Poland this week for the UN climate change conference,” said Jonathan Essex, Chair of the Surrey Federation of local Green Parties (1). “We’re hearing how carbon emissions threaten the mass extinction of species and the collapse of our civilisations. It is vital that we take investment away from fossil fuels right now. There is little time left before we descend into truly catastrophic climate change.”

Many people in Surrey have signed a petition to call on MPs to sign the pledge to get the Parliamentary Pension Fund to divest from fossil fuels. Divest Surrey has also been campaigning to get the Surrey County Council Pension Fund to divest from fossil fuels, but instead the Fund has actually been increasing its direct fossil fuel investments.

“I’ve asked to meet Crispin Blunt to ask him to sign the pledge, and I know other MPs around Surrey have been approached by constituents. It would be a shame if Surrey MPs lagged behind their more far-sighted colleagues”, said Jonathan Essex.

1. Jonathan Essex is a Green county councillor and Reigate and Banstead district councillor. He travelled to Poland by train and bus to give a presentation on his new report Unlocking the Job Potential of Zero Carbon: A summary of the case studies for the United Kingdom, Hungary and the Republic of Ireland.