The Copenhagen City Council is expected to approve a proposal on Tuesday to divest its investment fund from all fossil fuels holdings.
News from Copenhagen: Denmark rife with CO2 fraud
The Danish capital’s 6.9 billion kroner ($1 billion, €925 million)
investment fund will sell off all its stocks and bonds in coal, oil and
gas if the proposal passes as expected.
“Copenhagen is at the forefront of the world’s big cities in the green
transition and we are working hard to become the world’s first
CO2-neutral capital by 2025. Thefore it seems totally inappropriate for
the city to still be investing in oil, coal and gas,” Mayor Frank Jensen
told Information.
“We need to change that and I think this will sit will with
Copenhageners’ desire for a green profile for their city,” he added.
The Danish capital’s assets are managed by the city’s own mutual fund,
which has a total of 6.9 billion kroner in stocks and bonds. Initial
reports on Copenhagen’s divestment plans did not indicate how much of
the city’s money is currently invested in fossil fuels and a council
spokesperson told The Guardian that it has not yet been decided how the
city will reinvest the affected money.
The divestment itself is expected to cost one million kroner in fees.
Jensen said that he hopes other cities will follow Copenhagen’s lead.
“I’m not aware of other capitals that have made such a clear decision
as the one we are now making. But I think more will follow in the wake
of the climate agreement in Paris,” he told Information.
Story continues below…
“The development will go quickly – we are now hearing about coal companies going bankrupt at a fast clip,” he added.
Copenhagen’s move follows a similar decision by the much smaller city of Roskilde last year. According to divestment advocacy group Fossil Free, a total of $3.4 trillion has been divested from the fossil fuel industry but over 500 different organizations, including more than 60 cities and municipalities worldwide.
Copenhagen joins Oslo as the only capital cities to make a divestment commitment.