The NZ Super Fund - It’s a fund for our future, so it doesn’t make sense to invest in an industry that’s destroying it.

The NZ Super Fund was created as a long-term vision to invest our money for a future where an increasing proportion of New Zealanders will be over 65. That means also thinking long-term about what we're investing in, with the costs of increasing climate change created by the fossil fuel industry greatly outweighing short term returns.  

3 things you need to know about the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and fossil fuel investments:

1. The NZ Super Fund has over $440 million invested in fossil fuels.

2. They’ve done the right thing before. The Super Fund excludes investments in over 150 companies that are involved in unethical and harmful industries such as tobacco, nuclear weapons and cluster munitions manufacture.

3. Other institutions are taking action; major Norwegian pension fund Storebrand has divested from 19 fossil fuel companies, while the World Bank is cutting loans for new coal power plants. Recent reports from HSBC, S&P, Moody’s and others note fossils fuels are an increasingly risky investment.

The call to divest the Super Fund is part of a rapidly growing global campaign to divest banks, pension funds, universities, churches and others from fossil fuels and spur the transition to renewable energy. 

For detailed information on the Super Fund’s fossil fuel investments and the case for divestment, check out this new report from WWF – Fossil Fuel Finance in New Zealand: Superannuation and ACC. 

To find out more about 350's campaign to divest New Zealand from fossil fuels, and how you can get more involved, head to http://350.org.nz/gofossilfree/.