PROTESTORS gathered outside East Lothian Council’s headquarters today (Friday) to oppose the Lothian Pension Fund’s investment in fossil fuel companies.

Representatives of campaign groups including Friends of the Earth East Lothian and Unison East Lothian were among those on Haddington’s Court Street.

They held a ‘tug of war’ to represent the pull between investing in big polluters and green investments.

The Lothian Pension Fund, administered by City of Edinburgh Council for the four Lothian councils, invests an estimated £229 million in fossil fuel companies, including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Equinor.

Last October, East Lothian Council unanimously passed a motion calling on the Lothian Pension Fund to end its investments in fossil fuel companies that are driving the climate crisis but the fund has not yet changed its policy.

Councillor Shona McIntosh (Green), who tabled the East Lothian Council divestment motion in October, said: "East Lothian Council and Edinburgh Council have both passed motions calling on Lothian Pension Fund to divest, but they have not yet paid any heed.

“It is great to see campaigners out around the whole Lothian area to tell the pension fund it’s time to stop fiddling while our planet burns.

“We must turn off the finance for the catastrophic oil and gas industry.

“Our pensions should be invested in industries which will aid the just transition and give us all security, prosperity and peace in our retirement.

“We will have none of these things if we don’t make a swift turn away from fossil fuels."

Fintan Hurley, acting convenor of Friends of the Earth East Lothian, was among those in attendance.

He said: "The council should be investing for our future, not supporting the very companies that are causing the climate crisis.

“When it comes to fossil fuels, we need to leave it in the ground. If coal, oil and gas get extracted, they get used.

“And if we use all the fossil fuels already known about, it will push the planet past the tipping points that create irreversible climate chaos.

“Exploring for new fuels will just accelerate this disaster.

“There is still time to change if we act now. Ending investment in oil, coal and gas is a key part of the change we need to make.”