Agenda item

Changes to the Financial Regulations for Virements

This council calls for support for the Powys County Council Pension Fund Committee to consider the following:

·         Continue the ongoing support for the principle of divestment in companies engaged in fossil fuel extraction, in order to divest from direct ownership of equities and corporate bonds, as well as any comingled funds, of companies engaged in fossil fuel extraction

·         The Adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13:-

“To take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact”

 

·         And; to request and actively encourage that members of the Wales Pension Partnership consider divestment within a period of five years

 

 

If you are thinking harder about the impacts of fossil fuels – then vote for this motion today.  Fossil fuel companies are subsidised at the expense of the climate, our health and our future.

 

We can no longer afford to ignore the fiscal cost of subsidising and investing in fossil fuels.

 

We further accept that the Welsh Pension Partnership is committed to ethical investment but is not clear on divestment from global businesses which seek to continue to extract fossil fuels and deplete the natural environment of important resources. 

 

Proposed by County Councillor Emily Durrant

Seconded by County Councillor Jackie Charlton

 

 

We ask that this Council notes:-

 

Section 6 under Part 1 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 introduced an enhanced biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems duty (Section 6 Duty) for public bodies. The duty requires that public bodies must seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity so far as consistent with the proper exercise of their functions and in doing so promote the resilience of ecosystems.  This not only protects but enhances conditions for biodiversity to thrive and flourish and makes a major contribution to reducing climate damage. 

 

Climate change is a major threat and investment in fossil fuels and continued massive, unnecessary subsidies by large Pension Funds and government ensures continued extraction of finite fossil fuels which add to carbon emissions and the climate change crisis.  It is widely acknowledged that we have entered a ‘CLIMATE CRISIS’. 

 

We should, as councillors, further note the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that “we are already seeing the consequences of 1°C of global warming through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice”.

 

We ask that councillors note the Intergovernmental Panel’s finding that “warming of 1.5ºC or higher increases the risk associated with long-lasting or irreversible changes, such as the loss of some ecosystems,” and that “limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require ‘rapid and far-reaching’ transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050.”

 

We also ask that councillors note that by divestment we send a message to government that subsidising fossil fuel companies is becoming unsustainable for the future of our planet.

 

We understand that work has been undertaken to consider a move towards divestment for the Powys County Council Pension fund which is paid in to by employees and councillors alike.  We can as a Council, move a motion to enable the Pension Committee to free itself of any investment into damaging our environment further, by approving this motion to reduce to nil investment into fossil fuels within 5 years.

 

Guardian – Jillian Ambrose 6 September 2019

 

“Major oil companies have invested £40.6 billion in fossil fuel projects that undermine global efforts to avert a runaway climate crisis, according to a report.”

 

This includes investing in developing “high-cost plans to extract oil and gas from tar sands, deepwater fields and the Artic despite the risks to climate and shareholder returns.”

 

The report further challenges the “…..many oil executives who claimed to support the Paris goals and vowed to invest in renewable energy projects.”

 

The report was commissioned for UN Environment Programme and is outlining the constructive increases in investment of renewable energy projects.

 

 

 

Minutes:

Council considered the report of the Head of Finance proposing a change to Financial Regulations so that the re-profiling of capital budgets between financial years, provided always that the overall project budget remains the same, was not a virement requiring Council approval. The change had been recommended by the Democratic Services Committee.

 

It was moved by County Councillor E Vaughan and seconded by County Councillor P Davies and by 51 votes to 1 it was

 

RESOLVED

Reason for Decision:

That the changes to the Financial Regulations are approved.

 

To allow the roll forward of capital budgets and finding to a future year providing the overall budget remains the same.

 

County Councillor E Durrant left at 14.24.