Dutch pension fund ABP has sold all of its liquid investments in fossil fuel producers in developed markets.

This includes all fossil fuel equities and corporate bonds in developed economies such as the United States, Australia and Singapore.

ABP remains invested in around €1bn of liquid fossil fuel assets in emerging markets and €5bn of illiquid fossil fuel assets.

The pension fund said it was still working on phasing out these remaining investments.

With the illiquid investments, money is tied up for a longer period of time in long-term contracts of up to 10 years, ABP noted.

It also invests in pools with other pension funds, and is phasing out these investments, totalling around €1bn.

However, as long as the pension fund is in the pools, it is still possible that shares will be purchased.

ABP defines fossil fuel producers as companies that are directly involved in finding and production fossil energy from coal, oil and gas, and companied indirectly involved in the exploration and production of fossil fuels, such as companies that supply parts for oil rigs, for example.

“ABP follows a different definition and list of fossil investments in which we invest no more than those of the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) and the Global Oil & Gas Exit List (GOGEL),” ABP stated.

“Why? Because the latter lists also include large consumers of fossil energy, while we believe that these companies can make the transition to sustainable energy.

“So, we continue to invest in these companies and talk to them to encourage change.”

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