Make My Money Matter, a UK not-for-profit organisation, has released its findings that show £900 of the average UK pension is being invested into Shell, one of Britain’s biggest oil and gas companies, without the knowledge of a large proportion of the public.
The Make My Money Matter organisation have found that 58% of the public are left in the dark about where their pensions are being invested, and over 8 million people, who hold UK pensions, have declared that they don’t want their money being invested into companies that are dealing with fossil fuels.
The 23rd of May (2023) marks the day of Shell’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), and many of the UK’s biggest schemes for pensions are planning to vote against the oil and gas giant’s directors, due to them not doing enough to prevent a climate crisis. This comes after the company made a staggering £10 billion profit.
Investment company, London CIV, are planning to vote against the re-election of Shell’s Chair Sir Andrew MacKenzie. As the investment company believes, along with many other organisations, that board members should be held responsible for the lack of climate action.
The National Employment Savings Trust, also known as Nest, has declared it will also vote in favour of a re-election of Shell’s Chair. Nest will also support a resolution established by activist group, Follow This, who call for Shell to update its targets so that they are in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
CEO of Make My Money Matter, Tony Burdon, has stated that UK’s pension schemes need to work together to make a real change:
