Friday 22 May 2020

Green energy companies to benefit from £30m investment from Swansea Council’s pension fund

A range of solar and wind power infrastructure projects will be awarded £30 million worth of grants from Swansea Council's pension fund.

The initiative aims to make the pension fund 'one of the greenest in the UK' and will be the outcome of a collaboration between the local authority and the investment firm BlackRock.

It says funds will be mobilised to support projects which aim to mitigate climate change and deliver long-term benefits for the community.

The investment complements several steps the £2.1 billion pension fund has already taken to reduce its carbon footprint, including cutting the amount of cash invested in oil companies and other organisations with a high carbon density.

Clive Lloyd, Chair of the Swansea Pension Fund Committee, said: "We were the first local government pension scheme in Wales and among only a small number in the world to commission a review of our equity investment portfolio to find out the exact extent of our carbon and fossil fuel-related investments.

"Since then, we have moved 5oo million of assets into low carbon index-tracking funds which has reduced further what was already a low level of investments in carbon-related industries."