CLIMATE ACTIVISTS CRASH DUBLIN 4 BLACK-TIE PENSION FUNDS EVENT DEMANDING DIVESTMENT FROM FOSSIL FUEL

27th February, 8pm, Dublin, attendees of the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) annual black-tie dinner at the Clayton Hotel Burlington Rd were caught off-guard as pre-dinner speeches were interrupted by a group of Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists demanding that Irish pension providers divest their funds from fossil fuels. The group of 20 activists stormed into the ballroom, accompanied by drumming and made their way up to the stage holding banners reading "Divest Our Pensions From Fossil Fuels". They then launched into their own brief speeches demanding that Irish pension funds stop fuelling the industry that's most to blame for the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the escalating climate crisis. The individual speeches were punctuated by a chorus of activists shouting "We are here to make you see, pensions should be fossil free!". After wrapping up their speeches, the activists did a lap of the ballroom while chanting and drumming before exiting. 

Recent analysis by the Business Post revealed that Ireland's main private pension providers have at least €9 billion invested in the fossil fuel sector.  To meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, nearly 60% of our existing oil & gas reserves and 90% of coal reserves must remain in the ground. Yet Irish pensions are heavily invested in companies like Shell and Chevron that are actively exploring for new fossil fuel reserves. 

One of the activists, Sean Loughran, a father of three who has invested in a company pension for 35 years, said "It's outrageous that Irish pension funds continue to be invested in fossil fuels this far into the climate crisis. We're here to make these pension companies look in the mirror, make them reassess what they're doing and change course.”

Ireland's main private pension providers are Irish Life, New Ireland, Aviva and Standard Life, making up about 95% of the market. According to sustainability disclosure documents 8.8% of Zurich Life's pension fund assets are invested in the fossil fuel sector, 7.4% of Irish Life's, 6.1% of Aviva's, and 5% of New Ireland's. (Standard Life has not begun to disclose its sustainability metrics yet.)

Fossil fuel companies have engaged in a massive, decades-long campaign to promote doubt & misinformation about climate change and to block climate action both in Ireland and globally. They’re doing this in the service of their shareholders, mostly institutional investors like IAPF’s members.

In company pension schemes, a significant amount of power to affect change is held by a small number of people - namely employers and their pension providers. Mr Loughran added, “I feel like I have no control over where my hard-earned money is going. I have a pension because I want to ensure financial stability in my future, but a pension scheme that invests in fossil fuels feels like a contradiction. I want a pension for my future, not against it”.

Moving Irish pension funds away from fossil fuels would allow pension-holders to have a real impact on the climate crisis. Choosing a climate friendly pension has 21 times the combined effect of giving up flying, switching energy providers and becoming vegetarian according to the UK not-for-profit campaign group Make My Money Matter. 

Twenty-two-year-old activist and student, Claire Connolly, said "As a young person, why would I consider investing in a pension when it would be actively endangering my future? A pension is supposed to offer a safe, secure future but it doesn't look like that to me".

The greenwashing of pension plans has also made it more difficult for workers and employers to make more sustainable investments. According to the European Union's own insurance and occupational pensions regulator, over six in ten EU consumers don’t trust the sustainability claims of the pensions industry, or believe they are misleading. Current EU regulated classification systems allow investment in fossil fuels and nuclear power to be classified as green. 

In terms of State money, Ireland's national pension reserve fund was divested from fossil fuels following the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018. However, Ireland's new auto-enrollment pension scheme, to be introduced in September, will funnel vast sums of state money into private pension funds that are heavily invested in fossil fuels - a huge step backwards.

The 2019 Climate Action Plan, in response to the Paris Agreement, created Action 12 to consider how “to provide an option to pension-holders to opt for a fund which does not include fossil fuel”. However, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection quietly dropped the proposal and it was never implemented.

Extinction Rebellion activist and teacher Ian Mac an Ghaill asserted: “The government’s laissez-faire approach to the pension industry has undermined the Paris Agreement and worsened the climate crisis. There are employees and employers who want to adopt sustainable pensions but it’s impossible as long as pension providers refuse to offer fossil-free options.” 

Traditional investing often disregards the side effects of its funds in the name of maximising profits, when in fact, there is evidence of sustainable funds outperforming traditional ones. 

Holly Eustance, a participant in the action who is also a new pension holder poses the question: “What kind of a legacy do these companies want to leave? If the pensions industry continues funding fossil fuels, they will be complicit in the destruction of our planet for all young people and future generations. We're asking them to take decisive action now to divest pension funds from fossil fuels. Let’s remember, there are no pensions on a dead planet.”            

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Resources:

https://www.businesspost.ie/news/revealed-the-e9-billion-fossil-fuel-footprint-in-irish-private-pensions/ 

https://www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2024/08/28/do-you-care-if-your-pension-is-funding-oil-companies-and-weapons-makers/ 

https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/assets/files/pdf/divest_ireland_divestment_guide.pdf 

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41413192.html 

https://www.thejournal.ie/fuelling-retirement-5953105-Jan2023/

https://www.eiopa.europa.eu/document/download/b8e20202-b1f6-41a9-9df8-f3cf8a9e96f9_en?filename=Consumer%20trends%20report%202022.pdf

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03821-8 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/12/ireland-becomes-worlds-first-country-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels 

Photo by: Ombre Reynolds

Photo by: Ombre Reynolds

Photo by: Ombre Reynolds

Photo by: Ombre Reynolds

Photo by: C Connolly

Extinction Rebellion call out J.P. Morgan’s sponsoring of Crusaders Athletic Club’s 5K as an Unholy Alliance

The climate rebels embarrass the Company and the Club by highlighting the title sponsor’s status as world’s #1 financier of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement

Photo by Alessandro Summer

Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin, 11th July 2024, 7:45pm As about 2,000 runners assembled, awaiting the start of the Docklands 5k, a group of Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists with banners and flags, drummed and gave speeches, drawing their attention to the fact that the race’s main sponsor is the world’s  number one financier of fossil fuels since the signing of the 2015 Paris Agreement and urged them to contact race organisers - Crusaders Athletic Club - to tell them not to take sponsorship from JP Morgan in the future. The activists pointed out the irony that, due to sea-level rise caused by the climate crisis, the course of the race is likely to be under water within the lifetime of many of the runners. 

The activists held a large banner emblazoned “J.P. Morgan – sponsoring Crusaders AC’s 5K & Climate Chaos” with an image of Beckett Bridge and runners being submerged in rising water. One speech referred to the fact that access to Crusaders' home stadium in low-lying Ringsend is likely to be under water within a few decades. A three-metre-high scythe-wielding, skull-headed “climate reaper” puppet covered in the logos of fossil fuel companies that JP Morgan has financed, symbolised the death and destruction caused by the climate chaos that JP Morgan is funding. The reaper danced to the beat of the drumming. Other activists wearing bibs saying “JP Morgan, Climate Chaos Champion” and “JP Morgan Divest from Fossil Fuels" handed out leaflets headed “JP Morgan and Crusaders AC - an unholy alliance”, and spoke with runners and onlookers about the sponsor’s status as the number one financier of fossil fuels since the signing of the Paris Agreement, with fossil fuel financing totalling $430.9 B from 2016 to 2023. 

Photo by Alessandro Summer

JP Morgan also ranks worst among banks committing financing to companies with fossil fuel expansion plans. Earlier this year, JP Morgan announced that they would leave the Equator Principles, which set minimum standards on risks to the environment and local communities in countries where they finance oil, gas, coal, infrastructure, and mining projects. 

Photo by Alessandro Summer

XRI’s Trisha Kiersey, a grandmother from Shankill said “I do not think it is appropriate for a leading Dublin athletics club to accept sponsorship from a climate laggard such as JP Morgan. With the rising profile of Irish athletics on the European and world stage, I’m sure there are other more suitable sponsors out there who would be willing to lend their name to the Docklands 5K in the future.”

Photo by Alessandro Summer

The 2023 IPCC synthesis report states that no more fossil fuel sources can be opened if we’re to avoid a significantly worsening climate crisis. It states that three billion people live in areas that are “highly vulnerable” to climate breakdown and half of the global population now experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year. It warns that in many areas, “we are already reaching the limit to which we can adapt to such severe changes”. 

Photo by Alessandro Summer

The activists accused Crusaders AC of “sportwashing” JP Morgan’s public image. “JP Morgan sends billions of dollars to fossil fuel companies each year, causing massive environmental problems, and they think they can counteract all the bad publicity by giving a few thousand here and there to sports groups like Crusaders” said activist Sean Loughran of Balgriffin.

Photo by Alessandro Summer

XRI wrote to Crusaders last year asking them to revise their sponsorship policy to exclude companies with ties to the development of fossil fuels but did not receive a reply. Activist Angela Deegan from Drumcondra, said, “I ask Crusaders to think, in the future, do they want to be part of the solution to the crisis or part of greenwashing the problem. And with the climate crisis escalating, how long before it gets too hot for athletes to compete in these 5Ks?”

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Resources:

Banking on Climate Chaos 2023 - Banking on Climate Chaos 

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/

Extinction Rebellion calls out J.P. Morgan’s sponsoring of Docklands 5K as an exercise in image-laundering

The climate rebels embarrass the company by pointing out to event attendees the title sponsor’s status as #1 financier of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement

Dublin docklands, 16th June 2023: Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) activists made things uncomfortable for J.P. Morgan - title sponsor of the annual docklands 5K run - throughout yesterday evening’s event. About 20 activists wearing bibs saying “JP Morgan, Climate Chaos Champion” and “JP Morgan, Divest from Fossil Fuels" engaged with participants and onlookers about the sponsor’s status as the number one financier of fossil fuels since the signing of the Paris Agreement, with financing totalling $434.1 B from 2016 to 2022 and its huge investments ($17.9 B) in the top 12 major oil and gas expansion companies. Their large, colourful “J.P. Morgan - sponsoring 5Ks and Climate Chaos” banner drew a lot of attention from the runners as they waited for the race to kick off. The slogan contrasted the resources the company pumps into fossil fuels - the main source of the greenhouse gas emissions driving the climate crisis - against sponsorship of a community event as an attempt to launder their image.

Taking care not to impede any runners, the activists handed out leaflets headed “J.P. Morgan sponsoring the escalating climate crisis”. They also chanted “J.P. Morgan pick a side - Divest now or ecocide”. Jeffrey Seathrún Sardina, PhD researcher, XRI activist who competed in the 5K said "Our demand that JP Morgan divest from fossil fuels is, at its core, an act of self-defence. All of nature is under threat, and every euro they put into dirty energy is another attack on the natural world. This needs to stop."

The latest (March 2023) United Nations IPCC report states that “Human-caused climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe” and that “Risks and projected adverse impacts and losses and damages from climate change escalate with every increment of global warming”. 

It states that greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure is already more than enough to push the world beyond 1.5°C of global heating compared with pre-industrial times. This means that no more fossil fuel sources can be opened if we’re to avoid a significantly worsening climate crisis. Three billion people live in areas that are “highly vulnerable” to climate breakdown and half of the global population now experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year. It warns that in many areas, “we are already reaching the limit to which we can adapt to such severe changes”. 

Activists requested event-goers sign XRI’s petition calling on the Irish Funds Industry Association to expel J.P. Morgan and 13 other major global banks and asset management companies that are among the top funders of fossil fuels. These include Amundi, BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Invesco, LGIM, State Street, UBS, Vanguard, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citi Bank and RBC.

All the proceeds from the event went to Crusaders Athletic Club. XRI will be communicating with the club to ask them to revise their sponsorship policy to exclude companies with ties to development of fossil fuels.  Semi-retired EFL teacher, Art Ó Laoghaire, currently on remand facing charges related to a climate protest in 2019 said, “I ask Crusaders to think in the future, do they want to be part of the solution to the crisis, or part of greenwashing the problem. And with the climate crisis escalating, how long before it gets too hot for athletes to compete in these 5Ks?”

XRI’s Docklands 5K action follows protests earlier this year demanding divestment from fossil fuels at the Dublin offices of BlackRock, J.P. Morgan and Citi bank and at the Irish Funds Global Funds Investment Conference.

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XRI banner displayed as runners approach the finish line

As runners wait to get going, activist holds up “JP Morgan Sponsoring Climate Chaos” sign.

XR activist with her athlete cousin before the race

Getting ready for the 5K - with a message for J.P. Morgan!

“No 'Women in Tech' on a Dead Planet” - Extinction Rebellion Ireland disrupts J.P. Morgan networking event

Interrupting a Women in Technology event the activists underscored the bank’s hypocrisy in promoting equality while endangering billions of lives with their fossil fuel investments. 

Video of the protest available to download here

Dublin, 24th March 2023: Yesterday evening, five climate activists with Extinction Rebellion Ireland interrupted the proceedings of J.P. Morgan’s Women in Technology event in their offices at Sir John Rogerson's Quay to highlight the company’s guilt in escalating the climate crisis through J.P. Morgan Chase’s role as the world’s top banker in fossil fuels. They demanded that J.P. Morgan divest from all fossil fuel companies and declared that “There are no women in tech on a dead planet”.

With about 40 mostly young women in attendance and panelists seated on-stage ready for the panel discussion to begin, the five female activists seated around the room stood up in sequence, interrupting the host’s introduction. Each activist made a succinct speech, building the case for why attendees should reject J.P. Morgan as a potential employer. They described J.P. Morgan as “part of the machinery that is funding climate chaos and driving the destruction of our planet”, and emphasized the disproportionate effect of climate disasters on women. They also urged existing employees of the company to demand that their employer divest from all fossil fuel companies. 

After their speeches they chanted “J.P. Morgan pick a side, divest now or ecocide” and made their way to the front of the room where they displayed flags with the Extinction Rebellion logo and signs bearing “Women for Climate Action” and “J.P. Morgan Divest”. Eventually the organisers had no choice but to guide attendees out of the room, relocating the event upstairs. The activists remained to talk to staff about their responsibility in the company, before leaving peacefully.

This week saw the release of the 6th United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report (AR6) containing the stark warning that “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all”. The AR6 Summary for Policymakers states “The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years.” It adds that “public and private finance flows for fossil fuels are still greater than those for climate adaptation and mitigation”. 

One of the five activists, UCD student Sineaid Whelan, stated “The message from the world's climate scientists couldn’t be clearer. We must immediately slash emissions if we’re to avoid apocalyptic scenarios of climate catastrophe. With our outbursts at this J.P. Morgan event, we jolted the hosts and attendees out of business as usual. Every one of us can and must stand up to the forces of evil that are driving the climate crisis forward. And J.P. Morgan is one of those forces. More of us must demand that they divest from fossil fuel companies.”

According to the Banking on Climate Chaos 2022 report, J.P Morgan invested USD 382.4 billion in fossil fuels in the period 2016-2021, beating out the next biggest financier of fossil fuels by 35%. Their financing in that five year period included USD 225.71 million in the Adani Group which owns the Carmichael coal project - an enormous fossil fuel project violating Indigenous Rights in central Queensland in Australia. In that period they also financed Gazprom, the Russian majority state-owned energy corporation and fossil fuel giant Exxon Mobil Corporation to the tune of USD 4.6 billion and USD 15.3 billion respectively. 

Yet sustainability features prominently on J.P. Morgan’s website. Their stated sustainability commitments include a goal of “transitioning to a low-carbon economy”. However, the company increased their fossil financing by $10 billion between 2020 and 2021. In her speech at the event, Emer Connolly of Drumcondra highlighted the company’s greenwashing. In a statement she said “J.P. Morgan claim they’re taking climate action, but this is pure greenwashing because, of all the banks, they are by far the biggest funder of fossil fuels.“

Other activists at the event pointed out the double-standard of J.P. Morgan trying to attract women to the company, when women make up the majority of the world’s poor and are disproportionately impacted by climate change that is driven in large part by the company’s investments in fossil fuels. They also pointed out estimates that 80% of people displaced by climate change are women - which leads to violence, sexual violence & human trafficking.

Student Síofra Byrne, Dublin said “This is what we know. Fossil fuel emissions are causing climate change. Climate change is endangering the lives of billions of women. J.P. Morgan is funding those fossil fuels. And their answer is to hire more women? If you want the world to be a better place for women then stop setting it on fire.”

Extinction Rebellion Blocks Entrance To Blackrock Asset Management Offices In Action Demanding Fossil Fuel Divestment

Says the company’s fossil fuel investments are escalating the climate crisis

Ballsbridge, Dublin, Mon 27th February, 12pm: As the first step in its nonviolent civil-disobedience 2023 campaign, Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) have taken action against the world's largest asset management company, BlackRock, at the Ballsbridge offices of its Irish subsidiary - to demand that BlackRock stops all new investment in fossil fuels. Activists blocked the main entrance of the building and displayed a banner with the message “BlackRock Divest from Fossil Fuel Ecocide”. 

As of December 2021, BlackRock, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company manages a staggering $10 trillion of other people's money. That’s more than the gross domestic product of every country in the world, except for the US and China. Among the 30 major global asset management companies active in Europe, BlackRock has the largest holdings ($133,466,000) in major oil and gas companies engaged in expansion projects. The company is also the joint biggest bondholder of coal companies with expansion plans.

To coincide with this action, Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XRI) have released an ‘Address to the Nation’. In this video, the group calls on the public to join them in the fight against the climate crisis and demand the change needed.

“The fact that new investments are still being made in fossil fuels at this stage of the climate crisis is obscene. BlackRock is actively profiting from a business that is destroying our collective future. Millions of people are already suffering from extreme weather events & food and water scarcity caused by their greed and short-sightedness. Meanwhile, BlackRock's profits have been rising year on year” said UCD student and XRI activist Sineaid Whelan.

“Every tenth of a degree of warming matters in this climate crisis” said Manuel Salazar from XRI, adding, “We are in a critical time window now where we must urgently act to avoid a level of warming that leads to the worst case scenarios of climate catastrophe. And we can’t just stand by and allow giant, wealthy corporations like BlackRock to jeopardise our chances.”

The activists also wanted to draw attention to “BlackRock’s blatant greenwashing and hypocrisy”, as Sineaid Whelan put it. Blackrock is a member of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and Climate Action 100+, an investor-led initiative to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change. It is also a member of  Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. However, as recently as October, 2022, in a statement to a British parliamentary committee, the company blatantly stated that it will not stop investing in coal, oil and gas. When asked by the committee about its policy on its fossil fuel holdings, BlackRock told the UK committee that it “expected to remain long-term investors on behalf of clients in carbon-intensive sectors”. A recent ShareAction report found that BlackRock voted against 88% of shareholder resolutions on climate change and climate-related lobbying in 2019/2020. BlackRock has the second worst voting record on climate proposals among the 37 CA100+ companies included in this report.

“Their membership of these groups would lead you to believe that BlackRock cares about stopping the funding of the fossil fuels that are driving climate change. But no, they are trying to have their cake and eat it - appearing on the one hand to care, but when it comes right down to it, refusing to pull the plug on fossil fuel investments. We must stand up to this duplicity.” said protestor Angela Deegan, a retired I.T. worker. 

Protest participant and TCD student, Emer Connolly, stated “With this action, we are demanding a stop to the madness that is investing in fossil fuels”, adding “Governments, fossil fuel companies, and investors in fossil fuel companies must all be held to account if we’re to succeed in slashing greenhouse gas emissions. Extinction Rebellion regularly protests the Irish Government’s lack of adequate climate policies and poor enforcement of climate regulations and demands that fossil fuel companies change their business models away from fossil fuel extraction. With this action today, we’re now holding the biggest investor in fossil fuels to account.” Indeed, following pressure from protests by environmental groups around the world, in 2020, BlackRock agreed to dump certain thermal coal shares from its actively managed portfolios. 

XRI demands the following of BlackRock Asset Management:

• Make fossil fuel expansion a redline in your investment and engagement policies and strategies.

• Establish time-bound demands for fossil fuel companies to stop developing new coal, oil and gas projects, phase down production and adopt short term absolute emission reduction targets.

• Announce sanctions and exclusions for companies that choose not to respond to these demands. 

XRI appeal to BlackRock employees:

• Challenge your employer from the inside  to meet the demands above and protect the environment.

• Organise Walk Outs and raise your voices from the inside.

• Assess your pensions and move away from investments that contribute to the climate crisis.

“Investment in fossil fuels is not only short-sighted but also misses investment opportunities in the renewable energy sector,” said activist and Administrative Assistant, Cría Barry, “If you have savings or pension investments, make sure you ask questions about where they are invested. Asset management companies like BlackRock must stop bankrolling the climate and biodiversity crises. We cannot allow greed for short term profits to be prioritised over the planet’s viability for human and non-human life. There’s no life on a black rock”

XRI rebels Pavels and Sineaid block the front doors of BlackRock, Ballsbridge

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