UNIONIZED CALPERS MEMBERS FOR FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT
CalPERS is investing your retirement savings in Big Oil.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System provides over $27 billion to fossil fuel corporations that are building coal plants, oil pipelines and fracked gas wells.
That’s more than any other public pension in the country.
CalPERS is attempting to leverage our retirement savings to transform oil, gas, and coal corporations into clean energy companies. But these failed "shareholder engagement" efforts are not only ineffective—they're undermining climate action, and costing state workers billions in returns.
Fossil fuel divestment is the responsible thing to do for our pension and our planet. For the last seven years, CalPERS members and allies across California have been building a powerful campaign to hold CalPERS accountable for bankrolling the climate crisis.
TAKE ACTION
Pass a divestment resolution in your local union
By default, our unions support CalPERS' fossil fuel investments.
This means our representatives can help pass legislation that keeps Big Oil in power by keeping California's public pensions invested in oil, gas, and coal corporations. You can challenge the status quo by passing a divestment resolution in your local union.
A divestment resolution makes it easier for your chapter to:
- Speak out against CalPERS bankrolling the climate crisis
- Endorse CalPERS Board candidates who support fossil fuel divestment
- Sign on in support of fossil fuel divestment legislation like SB 252
- Put pressure on CalPERS directly to divest
Watch Our Webinar on Building Union Support
Join our Union Team
We're keeping the pressure on CalPERS to divest from fossil fuels once and for all.
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN
Sign up for a 1:1 or just to stay informed about our work.
RESOURCES
Labor Network for Sustainability: Should Your Union's Pension Fund Divest from Fossil Fuels?
Fossil Free California: Why Divest?
Sindre Carlsen & Jonathan Li: CalPERS’ Portfolio Harbors Nearly $45 Billion in Stranded Fossil Fuel Assets
DeSmog: America’s Biggest Public Pension Fund is Slow-Walking Corporate Climate Action, Report Charges
Corporate Knights: CalPERS Pays High Cost for Holding on to Fossil Fuel Stocks
UC Berkeley Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program: Analyzing the Financial Risk of Holding Fossil Fuel Assets in CalPERS’ Portfolio
Sandy Emerson: CalPERS’ Ambition is Too Low; Climate Action Too Slow
Carlos Davidson: Shareholder Engagement with Fossil Fuel Companies is a Failure for Climate Change