Newcastle City Council has voted to dump fossil fuel investments and has told its major banks they need to divest portfolios of assets that include resources such as coal and oil.
The decision to focus on investments that are both environmentally and socially friendly challenges Newcastle's image and rich history given its status as the world's biggest coal port.
The motion to shake up the City of Newcastle's $280 million investment was driven and won by Labor councillor Declan Clausen who was elected on a platform of moving away from fossil fuel investments.
"It's about ensuring that where we have the choice - where investments are going to provide equal returns to the city, where the investment opportunities we're seeking has the same credit rating - we're going to preferentially invest in activities that are environmentally and socially productive," Mr Clausen told the ABC's AM program.
"Ratepayers of Newcastle are very keen to see a city that continues to diversify as an economy, that continues to acknowledge the past and future of the coal industry while also looking at alternatives technologies and embracing renewables in particular, and that's certainly what we're seeing in Newcastle."
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