Our Impact

The global commitment to divest fossil fuel assets has now topped $40 trillion by over 1500 institutions. Divestment by public pension funds demonstrates how government officials understand the importance of meeting their fiduciary duty to protect their assets and to tackle the climate crisis head on. Here are some recent notable wins by pension divestment campaigns:

$246B

New York - NY State Common Retirement Fund

The New York State Common Retirement Fund, the 3 largest in the USA, is reviewing all of its fossil fuel company investments by the end of 2024. To date it has already divested from thermal coal, the majority of its tar sands holdings and over $230 million in share oil and gas companies.

April 2021

$16B

Maine - PERS

Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed into law a bill that would require the $17.6 billion Maine Public Employees Retirement System, Augusta, and the state treasurer to divest holdings in fossil-fuel companies by Jan. 1, 2026.

June 2021

$9B

Chicago

City has divested $70 million dollars from fossil fuel companies and is now restricted from purchasing and holding fossil fuel assets from the top 225 companies with in-ground assets.

March 2022

$7B

San Mateo

Conceding to pressures to divest from fossil fuel companies, San Mateo County Treasurer Sandie Arnott directed the firm that manages the county’s assets to no longer invest in such companies

January 2022

$5.7B

Baltimore

In July 2021, Baltimore City Council voted to pass a bill requiring the city’s three retirement systems to divest from fossil fuel companies within five years.

July 2021

$182B

New York City

New York City completed, ahead of schedule, its divestment from fossil fuels for 3 of the city’s pension funds, divesting more than $3.9 billion in coal, oil and gas assets.

December 2021

We’ve also mobilized over 86,825 community members to send over 250,000 emails to their state legislators, pension fund managers, and the executives of fossil fuel companies demanding fossil fuel divestment.

Over 3000 people have called their state legislators demanding divestment. This is just the beginning of the community power we are building to shift billions of dollars from financing fossil fuels.