3. What is the Welsh Government's policy regarding disinvesting from fossil fuel companies? OAQ53730

The reduction of carbon emissions is a priority for the Welsh Government. A fortnight ago we published 'Prosperity for All: A Low Carbon Wales', our cross-Government plan to cut emissions and contribute to the global fight against climate change.

You’ve not said anything about disinvesting in fossil fuel companies, as far as I can see. We are falling behind in Wales in this context because the Government in the Republic of Ireland has decided that they will be the first nation in the world to disinvest and to sell all of their investments in fossil fuel companies after a Bill was passed recently, with the support of all parties there. I'm sure we wouldn't be a long way off achieving that in this Senedd too, if the Government chose to follow that particular path. For example, in the Republic of Ireland, their national investment fund, worth £8 billion, will be disinvesting in coal, gas, oil and peat as soon as practically possible, and that’s expected to happen over no more than five years. So, will you commit for Wales to emulate that to clearly demonstrate the real commitment that we have in terms of climate change in this nation?

I'll certainly commit to exploring that with colleagues and to looking very closely at what the Republic of Ireland have achieved, and then I will write to you following that. 

Minister, we know that local government pension schemes have invested in a huge range of companies, including fossil fuel companies as well. We know the sort of pressures that local government pension schemes are under and look like they will continue to be under, so it's not just a question of what the Welsh Government is going to invest or disinvest in. What advice are you giving to local authorities in terms of their pension schemes, to make sure that you get that balance right between discouraging a fossil fuel economy over the decades to come, but also making sure that those local authorities aren't put at more of a financial disadvantage than they might otherwise be? 

In 2018 Monmouthshire County Council voted to request that the greater Gwent fund, which handles the pensions for Monmouthshire, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly and Newport councils, make an ordered withdrawal from fossil fuel-based companies. The fund at the time was estimated to hold £245 million of investment in fossil fuel-based companies. So, I think that's a really positive example that we see there, and they're certainly showing some strong leadership within the sector.

Of course, the local government pensions scheme is an England-and-Wales scheme, so it's not devolved and so we wouldn't have any direct influence on it. But we're carefully looking at what's been achieved through the greater Gwent fund.