Two Climate Motions Passed
At the 2022 and 2023 BCTF AGMs, members overwhelmingly voted to have their pension divested from fossil fuels. However, no action has been taken to divest its over $37.8 billion pension fund from fossil fuels.
Teachers are increasingly concerned about the risk of the climate crisis for students, as well as financial risk to savings, which is inherent in fossil fuel investments as governments and insurance companies wake up to climate risk.
We need to put pressure on our pension fund managers, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and the BC Pension Board of Trustees to follow the resolution that was passed by BC teachers and divest our funds immediately.
The unions’ membership passed the following motions at the 2022 and 2023 AGMs.
That the BCTF lobby the Teachers’ Pension Plan Board to set policy that guides the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) in:
- Divesting from portfolios containing fossil fuel industries
- Allocating a greater portion of investments using environmental, social and governance
(ESG) criteria
AND
That the Federation develop a plan for full divestment from fossil fuel companies in the BC Teachers Pension plan by 2023, consistent with the fiduciary obligations of the board.