





The global divestment campaign has recently started to have an influence in New Zealand too. While our universities do not have large endowments like their US counterparts, other organisations, such as Westpac, have been targeted by activists for supporting fossil-fuel-related ventures. State-owned funds also have large investments in oil, gas and coal companies. While these entities have actively divested from the nuclear industry in the past, they seem unwilling to do the same for fossil fuels at present. Here, we look at how New Zealand organisations, both government and commercial, are influenced by the fossil fuel divestment debate, and how one New Zealand city is leading by example.









There are several government-owned funds in New Zealand with large investment portfolios that to date have not moved toward fossil fuel divestment. The New Zealand Superannuation Fund manages a NZ$26 billion asset portfolio, and has an ongoing list of companies which they do not invest in as part of their “ Responsible Investment ” policy. These include companies that are directly involved in the manufacture of tobacco, cluster munitions and even the processing of whale meat. This list of excluded companies is updated annually to “avoid prejudicing New Zealand’s reputation as a responsible member of the world community and to apply best-practice portfolio management.” In 2008 the Fund made the decision to also divest from those companies involved in the manufacture or testing of nuclear explosive devices. Perhaps this continual evaluation of the exclusion criteria could, with encouragement, offer an opening for consideration of fossil fuel divestment in the near-to-medium term.









As Crown, commercial and other entities consider whether to modify their responsible investment criteria to exclude fossil fuel companies, they can look to the precedent set by the Dunedin City Council. On 13 May 2014, Councillors voted in favour of an ethical investment policy for the NZ$76 million Waipori Fund , which excludes any companies involved in the “fossil fuel extraction industry.” This will result in the divestment of the $1.7 million currently invested in fossil fuels. While only a relatively minor investment, this gesture by the Council demonstrates not only leadership that others in New Zealand could aspire towards, but also marks another step along the life cycle of the fossil fuel divestment movement, as discussed in my previous post . These are indeed clear signs that the worldwide fossil fuel divestment campaign is producing shifts in New Zealand.

By Luke Harrington