ISLINGTON Council has declared it has cut pension fund emissions by 40 per cent.

The council has been trying to reduce deposits in polluting companies since 2016.

These changes began when the UK endorsed the Paris Agreement, where it was warned that global temperature rises would be capped at 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.

The Paris Agreement wants the world’s economy to be effectively carbon neutral by 2050.

The companies that the pension fund invests in have managed to reduce their emissions by 40 per cent between now and 2021. The carbon emissions produced by the fund’s invested companies have therefore been reduced by the equivalent of 25,000 tonnes of carbon annually.

The chair of Islington Council’s pensions sub-committee, Councillor Paul Convery, said that “Islington Council’s pension fund is quitting industries and companies that, if they continue to be high carbon pollutants, could quite soon become worthless.”

Environment chief Labour Councillor Rowena Champion, added that reducing the deposits meant the council can “help protect the scheme’s members, pensioners, and our planet.”