Under the terms of the legislation, which will likely pass into law in the autumn, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund—the state investment body—will be banned from investing in any company that derives more than 20 per cent of its revenues from fossil fuels. Ireland is the first country in the world to take such action. In comparison to the holdings in fossil fuels of other state investment funds—often referred to as sovereign wealth funds—the amount of shares Ireland has purchased in coal, oil and gas companies is relatively small—about €320m. “Climate change is real, and if we are going to have any chance of meeting the (climate) goals, we may as well start now”, said Thomas Pringle, an independent parliamentarian who introduced the bill.

Posted by

Eco-Business