Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • LOGIN
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Consultants
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Regulation
    • SECURE 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • Washington
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2023
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
    • Innovation in ESG Investing
    • 2023 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Divestment Database
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
    • 2023 Defined Contribution East Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Research Center
    • The P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
  • Print
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Frontlines
February 24, 2020 12:00 AM

Children descend on CalSTRS to urge fossil-fuel divestment

Arleen Jacobius
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    CalSTRS protest
    Peg Hunter
    Students march before a CalSTRS meeting to ask the pension fund to divest from fossil-fuel companies.

    Children drenched in fake oil riding atop an oil tanker float, the "Apocalypse," baring the sign "Funded by Teachers' Pensions!" was the focal point of a divestment march that ended at CalSTRS' doorstep.

    The Jan. 30 march urging the pension fund to divest from fossil-fuel companies concluded with young people holding signs such as "Engagement is Wedding Us to Extinction," "Don't be a Fossil Fool" and "Big Oil Took Our Childhood," and lying down in front of CalSTRS' headquarters in West Sacramento for a die-in before an investment committee meeting..

    The march and die-in were organized by Fossil Free California's youth allies at Earth Guardians, Youth vs. Apocalypse, Sunrise Movement and several other grassroots organizations, said Vanessa Warheit, executive director of Fossil Free California that is advocating for divestment of fossil fuels by investors, including the $254.1 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System and the $401.7 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento.

    At the Jan. 30 investment committee meeting, during the public comment period students, teachers and activists urged the fossil-fuel divestment.

    "Our house is on fire and you are rewarding the companies that are pouring fuel on the flames," one student told the board.

    A University of California, Davis, student told the board that like other people her age she is considering not having a family, fearing children in the future will not have clean air to breathe.

    In response, CalSTRS board Vice Chairman Harry M. Keiley pointed to portions of CalSTRS' Green Initiative Task Force annual report that was presented at the same meeting. The report states that "divestment is a last resort action." Instead, CalSTRS' work to persuade companies to reduce carbon emissions and its low-carbon work plan will position the pension plan to be "resilient in a changing world."

    During the meeting, the investment committee approved an engagement plan for its sustainable investment and stewardship strategies unit, formerly corporate governance. And the committee adopted a new investment belief establishing climate change as a fundamental consideration in all investment decisions.

    Related Articles
    CalSTRS details work plan for transition to low-carbon economy
    Asset owners struggle with divestment as ESG tool
    Climate change moves to top of investors' list of ESG issues
    Recommended for You
    Transitioning to net zero emissions
    Venture capital firms align in climate change battle
    Knot Charleston, Urban Land Institute Hines Student Competition winner
    5 Harvard students named winners of Hines real estate land-use competition
    Future Super fined for greenwashing on Facebook
    Future Super fined for greenwashing on Facebook
    Pension Risk Transfer: Derisking Trends and Considerations
    Sponsored Content: Pension Risk Transfer: Derisking Trends and Considerations
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    A Guide to Home Equity Investments: The Untapped Real Estate Asset Class
    Modernize your K-12 retirement plan with vendor consolidation
    Q4 2023 Credit Outlook: Price Is What You Pay, Value Is What You Get
    There's More Than One Way to Be a Climate Investor
    Exploring the Commercial Application of Artificial Intelligence
    Private Credit Insights: Every Problem Is an Opportunity in Disguise
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    October 23, 2023 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Custom Content
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Consultants
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Regulation
      • SECURE 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • Washington
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2023
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
      • Innovation in ESG Investing
      • 2023 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
      • Divestment Database
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
      • 2023 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Research Center
      • The P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
    • Print