Press release - Climate movement: “Pension funds, stop investing in fossil gas”
Amsterdam, Copenhagen 22 June 2020 – In these times of increasing climate crisis, corporate social responsibility also means that investments in fossil gas must be phased out as quickly as possible. In a world in which a maximum temperature rise of 1.5 Celsius is the norm, fossil gas cannot be a 'transition fuel' towards sustainable energy. This is the message from five European environmental organisations (Both ENDS, the Danish AnsvarligFremtid, Fossil Free Sweden, Fossil Free Berlin and the Italian Re:Common) to pension funds in their countries that still invest in fossil gas companies. They are promoting that message with a new campaign called "Gas Free Pensions", which is being launched today.
Fossil gas is not a clean alternative to oil and gas. Besides the CO2 that fossil gas emits when burned, gas leaks in production, transport and consumption make a significant contribution to global warming, as fossil gas consists of methane, a much more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2.
False information
Cindy Coltman of Both ENDS: "The fossil gas industry is currently spending billions on spreading the false information that gas is clean and can help with the transition to a fossil-free world. The "Gas Free Pensions" campaign aims to make pension fund participants aware that this information is untrue and encourage them to call on their own funds to phase out all investments in fossil fuels, including fossil gas, as quickly as possible."
Danish pension fund takes steps in the right direction
Earlier this month, members of the Danish campaign 'AnsvarligFremtid' (ResponsibleFuture) submitted a resolution to the annual meeting of the Danish pension fund MP urging the fund to stop investing in fossil gas companies. MP has now taken a number of significant steps to bring its investments in line with the Paris Agreement, for example by disinvesting in Shell, BP and ExxonMobil last year. The fund continues, however, to invest in 20 fossil gas companies, including Gazprom, Lukoil and Eni.
Dutch pension funds hesitant
In the Netherlands, too, pension funds like ABP and Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW) invest heavily in fossil gas companies. Despite pension fund participants campaigning for some time against investments in fossil fuel companies, Dutch pension funds are generally speaking much slower in taking steps that have already taken in other countries. The example of MP in Denmark shows that it is clearly possible for pension funds to stop investing in fossil fuel companies in the relatively short term.
Read more about this subject
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Dossier /Making pension funds more sustainable
Pension funds have a lot of influence because of their enormous assets. Both ENDS therefore wants pension funds such as the Dutch ABP to withdraw their investments from the fossil industry and to invest sustainably instead.
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News / 27 October 2026Both ENDS at COP31: Locally led climate finance and ending investment rules that block climate action
At COP31, Both ENDS advocates for climate finance that reaches women-led and community-based organisations at the forefront of climate action, while challenging the economic rules that obstruct the transition away from fossil fuels. Together with partners in the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA) and the PAPeS programme, we push for locally led adaptation, gender-just climate action and greater accountability for governments and companies.
We asked our colleagues Daan Robben and Fernando Hernandez why they are going to COP31, what messages they want to bring to negotiators, and what a positive outcome would look like.
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Dossier /The JWH Initiative: supporting young environmental leaders
The JWH Initiative aims to stimulate leadership of young people in environmental organisations by giving small grants to individuals to expand their knowledge, experience and training.
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Dossier /International trade and investment with respect for people and planet
The network of international trade and investment treaties is large and complex. The Netherlands alone has signed more than 70 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and is party to the trade and investment agreements concluded by the EU, like the EU-Mercosur and EU-Indonesia trade deals.
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News / 15 October 2026ISDS infringement complaint filed with the European Commission
The Netherlands and Portugal join four other EU countries facing such a complaint.
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Press release / 15 October 2026Dutch and Portuguese organisations file EU complaint over investment treaties that let companies and sanctioned Russian oligarchs sue EU countries for compensation
The Netherlands and Portugal join four other EU countries facing such a complaint, as the Global Days of Action against Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) begin.
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News / 29 September 2026Summary - Both ENDS complaint under the EU-New Zealand trade agreement
On 29 September 2026, Both ENDS lodged the first complaint on climate grounds with the European Commission's Single Entry Point. It asks the Commission to examine whether Aotearoa New Zealand has broken two promises both sides made in the EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement: not to weaken or set aside environmental laws in order to encourage trade or investment, and to effectively implement the Paris Agreement.
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Publication / 29 September 2026
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Publication / 29 September 2026
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News / 29 September 2026Q&A: New Zealand's climate rollback and the EU trade agreement
On 29 September 2026 / 30 September in Aotearoa New Zealand, Both ENDS lodged a complaint with the European Commission under the EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. These are the questions we are asked most often, and our answers. The complaint summary, the case explainer and the key public sources are linked at the end of this page.
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News / 29 September 2026What happens now? A timeline of the SEP Case
What happens now? On 29 September 2026 / 30 September in Aotearoa New Zealand, Both ENDS lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission. It is the first complaint to the EU's Single Entry Point on environmental and climate grounds. It asks the Commission to hold New Zealand to two promises it made in its trade agreement with the EU: not to weaken environmental protection to encourage trade or investment, and not to undermine the Paris Agreement on climate change.
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Press release / 29 September 2026New Zealand faces its first climate complaint under EU trade rules
UTRECHT / WELLINGTON, 29 September 2026 /30 September in Aotearoa New Zealand
Both ENDS, a Dutch environmental justice organisation, has lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission arguing that New Zealand has broken the climate promises it made in its free trade agreement with the European Union. It is the first complaint on environmental and climate grounds under the Commission's Single Entry Point, the mechanism that lets civil society ask the EU to enforce the sustainability commitments in its trade agreements.
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News / 3 September 2026Restoring Land, Restoring Hope: Both ENDS at UNCCD COP17 in Mongolia
From 17 to 28 August, governments gathered in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for COP17 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). At stake was more than how the world responds to land degradation and drought. It was also a question of who gets to shape land restoration, whose knowledge counts, and where the money goes.
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News / 6 July 2026Strengthening Women's Land Rights Across the Rio Conventions
From 29 June – 2 July 2026, Tamara Mohr, GAGGA coordinator at Both ENDS participated in the 4th convening of the Women's Land Rights Initiative (WLRI) in Nairobi, Kenya.Hosted by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, TMG Research and the Huairou Commission, the event brought together grassroots organisations, (inter)national NGOs, government institutions and donors from around the world.
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Publication / 3 July 2026
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Dossier /Gas in Mozambique
In 2011 one of the world’s largest gas reserves was found in the coastal province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of Mozambique. A total of 35 billion dollars has been invested to extract the gas. Dozens of multinationals and financiers are involved in these rapid developments. It is very difficult for the people living in Cabo Delgado to exert influence on the plans and activities, while they experience the negative consequences. With the arrival of these companies, they are losing their land.
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Dossier /Finance for agroecology
The lion's share of public budgets for climate, agriculture and development still goes to conventional agroindustrial projects that contribute to the current climate, food and biodiversity crises. Both ENDS and our partners are calling for a transition to agroecological practices that are people- and environment-friendly.
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Publication / 18 June 2026
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Publication / 12 May 2026
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Press release / 12 May 2026UN report warns of a growing sand crisis - The Dutch dredging sector plays a key role in global sand extraction
GENEVA/UTRECHT, 12 May 2026 – A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development, warns that global demand for sand is exceeding ecological limits. Large-scale extraction of sand from marine and coastal ecosystems is leading to biodiversity loss, damage to coastal communities and increasing risks in an era of climate change. Dutch dredging companies play a prominent role in this as global market leaders in large-scale sand extraction and land reclamation. “Our analyses show that the dredging sector operates globally within a system in which ecological damage and the consequences for coastal communities are systematically underestimated, whilst transparency and effective oversight are often lacking,” says the Dutch environmental and human rights organisation Both ENDS, which contributed to the report.
