Pension Funds: Financial and Ethical Investments — [Mr George Howarth in the Chair]

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 2:47 pm on 22 May 2019.

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Photo of Richard Graham Richard Graham Conservative, Gloucester 2:47, 22 May 2019

I am grateful for the clarification. I think the right hon. Gentleman understands that, from a personal investor or a pension fund investment point of view, finding an entirely fossil fuel-free investment would be very challenging.

My third point is that there is a challenge not just for pension funds, but for the wider financial sector. The most innovative green energy projects in the UK, particularly those looking at how we can mobilise some of the most powerful tidal streams in the world—including wave technology in the north of Scotland and cases being worked on in Cornwall, Hampshire and the west coast of Wales—are not easily accessible investment vehicles and are not at the scale that a significant pension fund could easily invest in. It would be useful to look at challenges around some investment regulations, including how major investors, such as large insurance companies that manage huge pension assets, could be allowed to invest more money almost in creating businesses to invest in new technologies.

I am conscious that time is running out, so let me move to my final point.