July 2021: I was presenting the Daytime Show for IndyLive Radio. This appeared on the radio blog. Since then I’ve left the radio team and helped set up IndyLive Podcasters, part of IndependenceLive Media. I’m reaching many times more people via video programmes and audio podcasts than I ever was via IndyLive Radio. You can read more about that shift here.
Divest Strathclyde
In July 2021, I interviewed Geraldine Clayton of Divest Strathclyde and Glasgow City councillor Ken Andrew. The two interviews cover both sides of an on-going discussion about ending fossil fuel reliant investments held by Strathclyde Pension Fund.
Geraldine spoke about Divest Strathclyde’s campaign calling for complete disinvestment from fossil fuels by SPF. A matter that is being thrown into the spotlight by Glasgow hosting the UN COP26 Conference in November this year.
Strathclyde Pension Fund
If you’re old enough you’ll remember when Scotland had regional councils, the largest of which was Strathclyde Region. Although the regional council has gone, its £26 billion pension fund, Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF), remains and is the responsibility of Glasgow City Council SPF Committee. That committee oversees its investment performance and its ethical and environmental strategies.
Ken Andrew, one of the councillors on the SPF Committee, told us about how he approaches the job of overseeing a fund of around £26 billion and nearly 100,000 people depending on it for their pensions.
A recent development, Glasgow City Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of the pension fund divesting from their remaining fossil fuel holdings. These currently total around £250million. That is about 1% of the Pension Fund’s total holdings. Ken talked to us about the fund’s environmental strategy and what it is doing to shift those remaining fossil fuel related investments.
You can listen to Geraldine and Ken here:
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