Copenhagen bans investments in coal, oil and gas

The City of Copenhagen will pull its investments out of coal, oil and gas companies. The city council have agreed to divest the fossil fuel holdings of the city’s €920 million investment fund.

“Copenhagen’s decision to divest shows that the fossil fuel industry is rapidly losing its social acceptance and consequently its political influence,” Melanie Mattauch, Europe Communications Coordinator for 350.org, an international effort to raise awareness of the need to decrease carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, told Cities Today. “The mayor of Copenhagen has been clear that the decision was motivated by the realisation that it’s wrong to still be investing in companies that are driving the climate crisis.”

Copenhagen decided to ban investments in companies that gain more than 5 percent of their revenue from coal, oil and gas. The criteria apply to companies that engage in prospecting, extracting or refining coal, oil and gas, as well as companies that provide equipment and services to the fossil fuel industry.

Copenhagen is the third municipality in Denmark to divest from fossil fuels, following Roskilde and Frederica, home to a big oil harbour. The Danish capital joins a growing number of cities that have already banned fossil fuel investments such as Norway’s capital Oslo, Paris in France and Newcastle in Australia, the home of the world’s largest coal port.

“The decision to stop investments in fossil fuels has put Copenhagen on the right side of history,” said Katrine Ehnhuus, a Danish divestment campaigner. “We know that the fossil fuel industry has deliberately misled the public on climate change and lobbies aggressively to prevent effective climate policies. Against this backdrop, it is clear that public money should no longer be going towards these companies. We hope that this decision will encourage cities around the world to follow in Copenhagen’s footsteps.”

Divestment is on the agenda in other capitals across Europe: Stockholm, Amsterdam and Berlin are currently reviewing their fossil fuel investments, while the new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has stated his intention to pull London City Hall’s pension fund out of investments in oil, coal and gas. Overall, more than 500 institutions have made various forms of commitments to reduce their investments in fossil fuels.

“Cities that ban investments in coal, oil and gas take an important stand against an industry whose business model is incompatible with a safe climate,” added Mattauch. “At the same time, cities are perfectly placed to actively support the solutions we need to tackle the root causes of the climate crisis by investing in solutions that promote community empowerment and prosperity, such as local renewable energy projects that benefit citizens rather than major corporations.”