Future Super will completely exclude fossil fuels, including coal seam gas, from its investment portfolio.

“For the first time, Future Super provides Australians with the opportunity to take one of the most powerful actions in fighting climate change, by ensuring their super is not contributing to the problem and instead forms part of the solution,” Sheikh said.

Research by The Australia Institute last year found one in four Australians were willing to shift their superannuation into a fund that doesn't invest in coal and coal seam gas.

“This represents up to $247 billion that could be moved away from fossil fuels… Together we have the power to disrupt business as usual to send a message to the big end of town that they must take climate risks seriously when they’re managing our money,” said Sheikh.

It has also suggested an answer to the question from Bloomberg New Energy Finance last week – where will the $US5.5 trillion in potentially divested funds go if institutional investors really got on board the trend.

The Australia Institute in March ran the first simulation comparing performance of an Australian fossil fuel free investment portfolio with an indexed ASX portfolio, and found similar risk return characteristics as the index. It concluded: “A screen eliminating companies whose business model is dominated by fossil fuels can readily be conducted, reducing unburnable carbon risk without compromising returns.”

The Future Super leadership team includes Jemma Green, a former vice president of JP Morgan and an adviser to the global research group Carbon Tracker, and James Their, founder of Australian Ethical Investment and the Responsible Investment Association of Australia.