OIL FREE OTAGO Press Release 13 May 2014
Oil Free Otago today commends the Dunedin City Council for taking a strong stance on climate change by voting to drop investments in the oil industry.
As the first NZ city to do so the DCC has joined the ranks of 24 US cities including San Francisco and Seattle, and of a growing number of major institutions, such as Stanford University, which have divested from fossil fuels.
The Dunedin City Council’s decision accords with the world’s largest fund manager, Blackrock, which has teamed up with the FTSE group to set up a new equity global index that excludes companies linked to exploration, ownership or extraction of carbon-based fossil fuel reserves, classing them as future stranded assets.
“Today is one of hope for the future” said Oil Free Otago spokeswoman Rosemary Penwarden. “The Dunedin City Council and Jinty MacTavish have shown the way for other New Zealand councils to also divest from fossil fuels. We are now better placed to transition to a prosperous clean energy, oil free future.”