NOTICES OF MOTION (Standing Order 17)
To consider the notices of motion set out below:
12.1
West Yorkshire Pension Fund – Independent Divestment Review
To be moved by: Councillor Warnes
Seconded by: Councillor Love
Council notes that:
a) Bradford Council formally declared a ‘Climate Emergency’ in January 2019;
b) Bradford Council, as a leading member of the Leeds City Region (LCR) Climate Coalition, is committed to achieving a net zero carbon LCR “by 2038, with significant progress by 2030”, and this aim was formally adopted by Bradford Council in October 2019;
c) the forthcoming COP26 international meeting in Glasgow underlines the critical importance of doing everything possible to reduce our reliance on the fossil fuel sector and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with it;
d) Bradford Council administers the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) on behalf of its members and chairs its key committees (the Joint Advisory Group and the Investment Advisory Panel);
e) Bradford Council must ensure that, in carrying out its role as the WYPF administering authority, its own interests do not compromise the fiduciary duty owed by the WYPF to its members;
f) it is not within the power of Bradford Council to ‘dictate’ or ‘mandate’ how these funds should be invested;
g) as part of its duties in relation to the WYPF, Bradford Council was also required to establish and operate a Local Pension Board – this board (the West Yorkshire Pension Fund Pension Board) is responsible for (i) assisting the administering authority in securing compliance with Local Government Pension Scheme regulations, (ii) any overriding legislation and guidance from the Pensions Regulator, and is currently chaired by a Bradford Councillor;
h) the WYPF’s Investment Strategy Statement recognises climate change risk and is committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its portfolio by 2050 or sooner;
i) the WYPF is signed up to the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change Net Zero Commitment Statement, which also accepts the need to transition investments to achieve net-zero portfolio greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, or sooner;
j) although low carbon investments remain a relatively small market segment, WYPF has been able to build up its portfolio to over £700m, with a further £260m committed to future projects;
k) according to Friends of the Earth, UK local government pensions held £9.7 billion of investments in fossil fuel companies in the 2019/20 financial year, and the WYPF remains one of four local authority pension funds with the largest investments of this kind;
l) efforts to engage positively with the fossil fuel sector (via the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change) have failed to make significant progress;
m) numerous other organisations in the UK have now begun to divest their fossil fuel holdings and reduce their exposure to the growing risk of stranded fossil fuel assets, such as the National Employment Savings Trust, the Brunel Pension Partnership, the Environment Agency and a number of councils including Calderdale, Cardiff, Islington, Lambeth, Southwark and Waltham Forest;
n) Calderdale Council’s cabinet agreed, in July 2021, to propose that their ... view the full agenda text for item 46
Decision:
Resolved – That the following notices of motion (with amendments) be approved:
12.1 – West Yorkshire Pension Fund – Independent Divestment Review
Moved by: Councillor Angela Tait
Seconded by: Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe
Council notes:
Council further notes:
Minutes:
Resolved – That the following notices of motion (with amendments) be approved:
1 – West Yorkshire Pension Fund – Independent Divestment Review
Moved by: Councillor Angela Tait
Seconded by: Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe
Council notes:
Council further notes: