Berlin, Cape Town, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Oslo and others pledged to take “all possible steps to divest city assets from fossil fuel companies and (increase) financial investments in climate solutions”.
The cities — which also include Bristol, Durban, Milan, Pittsburgh and Vancouver — have a total of 36 million residents.
They said they will ensure that pension funds and other public money will be invested in “a green and just recovery from Covid-19″.
Environmental campaigners and senior officials such as UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres have warned that trillions being spent by governments to stimulate pandemic-wracked economies should not be used to subsidise fossil fuel companies, which could jeopardise efforts to tackle another global crisis: climate change.
Berlin mayor Michael Mueller expressed hope that the cities’ decision to pull out of “climate-damaging and ethically problematic investment strategies” would send a political signal to other investors to do the same.
