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Oslo is to become the first capital city to fully divest from fossil fuels in plans released by the new coalition city government on 19 October.
Alongside the plans to divest Oslo’s £7m ($11m) pension fund, the city government is aiming to halve greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 2020 and become fossil free by 2030, the International Business Times reported.
After local elections in September saw Oslo’s city council consist of left-leaning parties for the first time in 19 years, the new coalition between the Green, Labour and Socialist Left parties presented their plans for the next four years of government.
Its plans include a pledge to not increase road capacity in the capital, build 60km of cycle lanes, invest in public transport and start to edge out cars in the city centre.
By 2019, the coalition aims to have made central Oslo a car-free zone, with tariffs operating in other areas and a subsidy to encourage people to buy electric bicycles.
Oslo follows the likes of San Francisco and Seattle in the US and Oxford in the UK as cities that have pledged to fully divest their funds from coal, oil and gas companies, though it is the first capital city in the world to do so.
Lan Marie Nguyen Berg, of the Green Party in Oslo, said: “The time for climate action is now, and the new city government will address climate change both locally and globally. The reduction in pollution will make the city even better to live in, and ensure that we take our global responsibility.”
In May, Oslo banned investments in coal. The country’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, worth around $900bn, then followed suit and plans to sell $8bn in coal investment.
The move comes a few weeks ahead of the COP21 climate talks, which will take place in Paris at the end of November. The talks hope to come up with a new global, legally binding agreement to tackle global warming.
Nguyen Berg said: “Divestment sends a strong message to the world prior to the Climate Change Conference in Paris that we need a strong agreement that will ensure that we avoid dangerous global warming.”
Source: International Business Times
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