Climate Safe Pensions is a project of Stand.earth. ^{1 2} It consists of a network of environmentalist organizations that advocate for government-worker pensions to end all investments in conventional energy companies and to finance environmentalist energy projects, positions aligned with ESG activism. ^{3 4}

Climate Safe Pensions solicits environmental activists to use its email template to send messages to their state representatives, requesting them to stop public pensions from investing in conventional energy companies. ⁵ It justifies its advocacy by claiming conventional energy companies are the largest contributor to climate change. ⁶

Background

Climate Safe Pensions was founded in 2010 as a project of the environmentalist organization Stand.earth. ^{7 8} It campaigns to have government pension funds in the United States and Canada reduce their investments in fossil fuel companies. It also advocates for all companies to engage in environmentalist practices. ⁹

Climate Safe Pensions consists of a network of local, state, and national environmentalist organizations that trains individuals to engage in political activism in support of its environmental advocacy. ^{10 11} It makes specific demands about companies in which investments funds should and should not invest. ¹²

Activities

As of March 2024, Climate Safe Pensions claims that over 86,000 members have engaged in contacting legislatures and investment managers of government-worker pensions to advocate for and “demand” that public pensions withdraw their investments in conventional energy companies. It also reports that its campaigns have been credited with over $465 billion in withdrawn investments in conventional energy companies by public pensions. ¹³

Climate Safe Pensions publishes information regarding the extent to which various public pensions own investments in conventional energy companies. It uses the data to claim such investments are to blame for climate change, arguing the investments are what allow the companies to operate. ¹⁴

Reports

In October 2021, Climate Safe Pensions published a report discussing the impact of its campaigns over its first 10 years of operation. The report states that conventional energy companies have “admitted” that the amount of withdrawn investments due to campaigns like those of Climate Safe Pensions have increased costs and resulted in lower credit ratings from credit rating agencies. It also states that Climate Safe Pensions attempts to persuade public pensions and investment managers to withdraw investments from conventional energy sources by arguing that the development of environmentalist energy sources will cause conventional energy sources to become obsolete due to the belief that the carbon emissions they produce allegedly have catastrophic effects on climate change. The report goes on to state that Climate Safe Pensions intended to move forward from the report by increasing its focus on advocating for public pensions to proactively finance environmentalist energy production. ¹⁵

In December 2021, Climate Safe Pensions co-published a report with Stand.earth and Third Rail Economy regarding 14 public pensions and their holdings in conventional energy companies. The report claims that it is the fiduciary duty of pension funds to stop investing in conventional energy companies because, at the time of the report, they had been underperforming in comparison to other investments and that over time, they will do worse due to environmentalist movements causing fewer investments in the companies. It goes on to argue that because public pensions contribute to nearly 30 percent of the shareholders of conventional energy companies, reducing holdings would significantly setback the companies financially. ¹⁶

Partner Organizations

Climate Safe Pensions lists 350.org, As You Sow, The Climate Change Collaboration, Climate Defense Project, Divested, Fossil Free Media. GreenFaith, Just Share, Market Forces, People and Planet, Rainforest Action Network, The Sunrise Project, Stop the Money Pipeline, and World Council of Churches as partner organizations. ¹⁷

1. “About Us.” Climate Safe Pensions, December 15, 2023. https://climatesafepensions.org/about-us/.
2. “Climate Safe Pensions.” Stand.earth, March 25, 2024. https://stand.earth/our-work/campaigns/climate-safe-pensions/.
3. “The Network.” Climate Safe Pensions, March 17, 2024. https://climatesafepensions.org/the-network/.
4. Meiman, Lindsay. “New York State Comptroller Misses the Mark by Only Divesting $25M of $500 Million from Exxon, Neglects Divesting from Other Oil & Gas Majors.” Climate Safe Pensions, February 15, 2024. https://climatesafepensions.org/release-divest-ny-exxon-2024/.
5. “Free Our Pensions from Fossil Fuels.” Engaging Networks: Nonprofit Digital Engagement Platform. Accessed March 31, 2024. https://act.stand.earth/page/35938/action/1.
6. “Defund Fossil Fuels and Stop Funding the Climate Crisis.” Stop the Money Pipeline. Accessed March 31, 2024. https://stopthemoneypipeline.com/pensions/.
7. ^[1] “About Us.” Climate Safe Pensions, December 15, 2023. https://climatesafepensions.org/about-us/.
8. “Climate Safe Pensions.” Stand.earth, March 25, 2024. https://stand.earth/our-work/campaigns/climate-safe-pensions/.
9. “About Us.” Climate Safe Pensions, December 15, 2023. https://climatesafepensions.org/about-us/.
10. The quiet culprit: Pension funds bankrolling the climate crisis. Accessed April 1, 2024. https://climatesafepensions.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CSPN-The-Quiet-Culprit.pdf.
11. “The Network.” Climate Safe Pensions, March 17, 2024. https://climatesafepensions.org/the-network/.
12. “About Us.” Climate Safe Pensions, December 15, 2023. https://climatesafepensions.org/about-us/.
13.  “Our Impact.” Climate Safe Pensions, November 21, 2022. https://climatesafepensions.org/what-we-do/our-impact/.
14. “The Culprits.” Climate Safe Pensions, November 6, 2022. https://climatesafepensions.org/the-culprits/.
15. “Invest Divest 2021.” Climate Safe Pensions, October 2021. https://old.stand.earth/sites/stand/files/divestinvestreport2021.pdf.
16. “The Quiet Culprit: Pension Funds Bankrolling the Climate Crisis.” Climate Safe Pensions, December 2021. https://climatesafepensions.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CSPN-The-Quiet-Culprit.pdf.
17. “Invest Divest 2021.” Climate Safe Pensions, October 2021. https://old.stand.earth/sites/stand/files/divestinvestreport2021.pdf