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Pension Plan PFZW Divests 78 Fossil Fuels Firms  

Dutch pension plan PFZW has divested 78 fossil fuel companies as part of a two-year engagement programme on the energy transition. PFZW has divested 192 companies as part of the programme to date and remains engaged with 12 fossil fuel companies. The 78 divested companies, valued at a €303 million (US$323 million) in total, that had not made sufficient progress in the energy transition despite making a public commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, including Dana Gas, Diamondback Energy, Tourmaline Oil Corp, and Vivo Energy. PFZW still has 94 companies operating in the fossil fuel sector, valued at €2.7 billion, in its portfolio – making up 1.2% of it. It will expect these companies to draw up a viable energy transition strategy that aligns with the Paris Agreement before the end of 2023. This strategy should include short and medium targets, and encompass both operational emissions (Scope 1 and 2) and the emissions from the combustion of oil and gas products (Scope 3). Fossil energy companies that fail to produce such a strategy by the end of this year will be divested, said PFZW. Joanne Kellermann, Chair of the Board of Trustees of PFZW, said: “We will continue to pursue last year’s policy of putting pressure on the fossil energy sector. This goes beyond selling investments in companies, since that in itself will not help to resolve the climate issue. We are therefore also using our influence as shareholder to push the fossil energy sector to transition more quickly to low carbon alternatives.”  

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