The Greens have started a campaign to lobby the Future Fund to stop investing in coal companies.
The party today announced a campaign to push the billion dollar fund – set up by the federal government to cover public sector superannuation liabilities – to scrap its investment in coal assets.
"Why would you invest in the very commodity that is wrecking the climate and which has, in the longer term, huge potential losses for anyone who invests in it," Greens Leader Christine Milne said.
Milne said up to $3 billion of the $83 billion fund is invested in coal, which she describes as a "risky investment", the ABC reported.
The Greens hope to match the success of their anti-tobacco campaign, which saw the Future Fund dump its $222 million tobacco-related investments.
"I think that the Future Fund guardians now recognise that the community is interested in the investments they hold," she said.
"They want to know where the money is going, into which companies, and I would be hopeful that the board of guardians would consider very carefully this call to divest from coal company investments.
"If we are to constrain global warming to less than two degrees, 60 to 80 per cent of current coal reserves will be unusable.
"That is, the share price of coal companies will be significantly less."
Milne said investments should be made in new manufacturing and renewable sectors.
"We're not dictating to the Future Fund where they should put their money – (but) it should be in an ethical framework of picking new sectors," she said.