Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott recently signed a bill requiring city pension funds to divest from fossil fuels within five years. 

In a move to help fight climate change, Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott recently signed legislation mandating that city pension funds divest from fossil fuel companies within the next five years.

According to Maryland Matters:

With the pension bill now signed into law, Baltimore’s three employee retirement systems have five years to divest from fossil fuel companies listed on The Carbon Underground 200, an environmental organization that identifies the top 100 coal and the top 100 oil and gas publicly-traded reserve holders globally — ranked by the potential carbon emissions of their reported reserves.

Baltimore is the latest major city within the US to pass such legislation. Washington DC and New York already have adopted similar policies; while Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh are taking steps to divest their pension funds as well.

The General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Pensions has added to its agenda similar legislation for discussion.

Read the full story on Maryland Matters.