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Monmouthshire calls for fossil fuel divestment

Monmouthshire County Council has called for its pension fund to divest £245m in fossil fuel investments. Councillors voted unanimously to make the request to the Greater Gwent Fund, which also handles pensions for Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly and Newport councils. Figures from by FOE Cymru show about £1bn is invested in fossil fuels by Welsh council pension funds — 6.68% of the total pot.

The local government financial crisis has not been caused by a lack of funding: that’s just a symptom of the inherent conflict of having independent local authorities within a highly centralised state, argues Conrad Hall.

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