Devon's pension fund gets greener

Another 29 years and it will be net-zero!

The Devon Pension Fund has pledged that its portfolio of investments will be net-zero by 2050.

The fund administers the pension scheme for the majority of Devon’s public sector workers, including people in the emergency services and local government.

A recent report by campaign groups Platform and Friend of the Earth had found that Devon County Council is among the UK’s top local authority fossil fuel investors, with £157 million of its £4 billion investments of made in fossil fuel companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, BP, BHP, Anglo American and ExxonMobil.

But now the Investment and Pension Fund Committee has signed up to a commitment drawn up by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

In the short-term, the fund has committed to invest more than £200 million in renewable energy infrastructure funds via the Brunel Pension Partnership. They are also working with that organisation to decarbonise its current investments at a rate of seven per cent a year and to increase investments into carbon solutions.

Chairman of the Investment and Pension Fund committee Cllr Ray Bloxham said: “We are committed to not only reducing the carbon footprint of our current investments but to ensure that in the long term our investments are carbon neutral.

“But simply pulling the plug on investing in carbon intensive industries isn’t the answer because they are inextricably linked to the very industries that are working to find sustainable solutions.

“To give an example, the steel industry is carbon intensive but is also vital in the production of the wind turbines we need to increase the supply of renewable energy.

“To achieve real emissions reductions, it is vital we engage with the companies we are invested in, to hold them to take responsibility for their product throughout its usage, not just in its manufacture. By doing this we aim to contribute to making real carbon reductions globally.”

The fund’s investments in companies classed as carbon intensive have fallen significantly over the last few years.

Weighted Average Carbon Intensity (WACI) is a measure of a portfolio’s investments in businesses that are deemed ‘carbon-intensive’.

When Devon’s Pension Fund’s WACI was last measured in December 2019 it showed a 21.5 percent reduction compared to nine months previously.

Another assessment is currently being conducted and is expected to show further reductions.