National Movement
Divest Oregon: Reinvest in a Fossil-Free Future
Is a part of :
Institutions are Divesting
The fossil fuel divestment movement has grown to encompass more than 1,500 institutions with $40 Trillion in assets in the last decade, according to the Global Fossil Fuel Commitments Database maintained by 350.org and Stand.earth. Ahem: yes – that’s $40 Trillion. And these numbers have already been exceeded. The market size of the Retirement and Pension Plans industry in the US, measured by revenue, was $953.6 bn in 2023.
For an overview of the divestment movement, see
Invest/Divest 2021
Many institutions have found that they can get a better investment return if fossil fuels are removed from their portfolio. One example: The University of California has a portfolio about the same size as Oregon and they fully divested in 2020.
- Opinion: UC investments are going fossil free. But not exactly for the reasons you may think (LA Times 9/17/19).
- UC becomes nation’s largest university to divest fully from fossil fuels (LA Times 5/19/20): “As long-term investors, we believe the university and its stakeholders are much better served by investing in promising opportunities in the alternative energy field rather than gambling on oil and gas,” Richard Sherman, chair of the UC Board of Regents’ investments committee, said in a statement.
- UC Investments Reaps Big Returns From Index Fund Shunning Fossil Fuels, Tobacco (Divest Oregon blog 8/19/2024)
States & Cities are also Divesting
New York City and New York State provide peer models for Oregon, given the size of their pension funds. Oregon is making progress towards both a net-zero plan and legislation to limit fossil fuel investments.
New York State
- New York State has begun to divest its $247 billion pension fund. (PR Office of the NY State Comptroller 4/12/21). It is carrying out a plan to divest sector by sector over a 5 year period.
- NY Common Retirement Fund Announces New Measures to Protect State Pension Fund From Climate Risk and Invest in Climate Solutions (PR Office of the NY State Comptroller 2/15/2024) DiNapoli also announced the Fund would make no new private market investments in funds focused on the extraction or production of oil, gas and coal.
New York City
- Comptroller Stringer and Trustees Announce Successful $3 Billion Divestment from Fossil Fuels (Office of the NY City Comptroller 12/22/2021)
- NYC Comptroller Lander Proposes Excluding Future Private Markets Investments in Midstream and Downstream Fossil Fuel Infrastructure by the New York City Retirement Systems (Office of the NY City Comptroller 10/22/2024)
Oregon
- Oregon’s Treasurer in 2024, Tobias Read, presented a Pathway to Net Zero to the Oregon Investment Council.
- Also in 2024, the Oregon Legislature passed The Coal Act to direct the Treasury to divest from coal, adopting a provision in the Treasurer’s proposed net zero plan. A result Divest Oregon considers strategically important, the act illustrates that the legislature has a role in directing the Treasury in its investments and requiring the Treasury to screen its investments.
- In 2025, Divest Oregon will introduce
The Pause Act, a moratorium on investment in private investments devoted to fossil fuels.