Despite president Donald Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Paris agreement, New York City has declared its goal to divest New York City’s pension funds from fossil fuel companies within five years. In this effort New York City joins cities such as Washington DC and Cape Town in South Africa. This decision reflects the America’s pledge initiative gathering U.S. cities, states and businesses committed to the U.S. pledge under the Paris Agreement, introduced during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) in Bonn last year.

The New York City plan to divest from fossil fuel companies will affect $5bn investments in fossil fuel made by five New York City’s pension funds. The City seeks to bring the fight against climate change straight to the fossil fuel companies, that knew about its effects and intentionally misled the public to protect their profits, according to the City’s officials.

Moreover, the New York City announced that it will file a lawsuit against five fossil fuel companies, namely BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell, due to their contribution to climate change. The City representatives claim that energy companies, such as Exxon Mobil, knew of the impact of climate change for decades, and even denied this in public.

Bill de Blasio, mayor of the New York City, said: 

“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. New York City is standing up for future generations by becoming the first major US city to divest its pension funds from fossil fuels.”

In recent years New York City suffered from flooding and erosion due to climate change; low-lying areas of the New York City such as lower Manhattan and the area around JFK airport are exposed to rising sea levels.

The gLAWcal Team