The amount of the Hertfordshire Local Government Pension Fund invested in fossil fuels companies has almost halved since the end of last year, it has emerged - but the body still holds nearly £50m.

In December (2019) the Hertfordshire pension fund had £94million invested in fossil fuel companies.

But data – reported to a meeting of the county council's performance and resources cabinet panel on Friday (September 4) – now shows that by June (2020) that had dropped to £48 million.

That's a reduction of £46million – and it means investments in fossil fuel companies now represent less than one per cent of the fund's overall portfolio.

The change was reported to the cabinet panel on Friday, after a motion on the investment choices of the fund was submitted to a meeting of the county council in February.

That motion highlighted the impact of fossil fuels on the climate – and requested a review of the fund's investment strategy which would not involve new investments in fossil fuel companies.

But the pension fund – which currently invests around £5.3bn – is managed by the pension committee, which has a 'fiduciary responsibility' to invest for the purpose of paying pensions to the beneficiaries.

And executive member for performance and resources Cllr Ralph Sangster said it would not be constitutional for the council's cabinet or cabinet panel to give instructions or recommendations.

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The report to the cabinet panel noted that the pensions committee 'does not fetter' the investment decisions taken by its investment managers, by imposing restrictions on companies or investment .

But it did recognise that non-financial considerations can be considered when making investment decisions such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

And it was reported that during 2019/20 the pension committee did review the investment strategy and looked at the 'responsible investment policy' of the fund.

It was also reported that last September (2019) the pension committee agreed to allocate £100m to a 'carbon aware fund'.

Meanwhile analysis of the fund's 'carbon footprint' – as of September 2019 – has also been undertaken to capture an insight into the fund's exposure to certain climate change risks.

And as a result, it says the fund can use this baseline to monitor what is driving the funds carbon exposure over time; identify if it is decreasing in line with expectations and identify 'exposures and holdings that merit further conversations' with investment managers.

At the meeting the councillors agreed to recognise the importance of the impact of carbon based industries on the climate.

And they agreed to acknowledge the 'considerable' amount of work undertaken and progress made by the pension committee in assessing the impact of carbon based investments.

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The Hertfordshire pension fund has more than 100,000 members – including past or present employees of the county council, the district and borough councils, academies and others – and currently invests around £5billion

Meanwhile at the same meeting, a petition – signed by more than 900 people – calling on the county council to stop investing in companies linked to oil and other fossil fuels was presented to the performance and resources cabinet panel by Divest Herts.