English: Can I thank the Member for Alyn and Deeside for bringing forward this very interesting debate today? Before I begin, I'd like to confirm that the Welsh Conservative group will be abstaining on the motion before us today. This is not because we don't agree with the premise of the motion. It's important, if we're to meet our climate change commitments, that we continue to move away from our reliance on fossil fuels, not just to power our cars and fuel our homes, but also to support our public finances. Of course, investing pension funds into things like fossil fuel companies has been standard practice for some time. It's not just the public sector pension funds that have been used in this way, but many private sector pension funds also. So, it's about time that we start looking at different and innovative ways of investing public funds into socially and environmentally responsible initiatives. And so, it is in this regard that I'm pleased that the local government Wales Pension Partnership announced a new decarbonisation initiative across £2.5 billion of its investments in April last year. It's also welcome that the partnership has developed a climate risk policy with an ambition to report on progress towards reducing exposure to carbon-intensive investments. Councils and local authority pension funds have also made good progress in decarbonising their investments. For example, back in 2018, Monmouthshire County Council, when it was under Conservative leadership, agreed to ask Gwent pensions fund to disinvest in fossil fuels. Deputy Llywydd, there has been a wealth of good work by councils here in Wales on this agenda, but I absolutely agree that there needs to be more done. However - and going back to why we are abstaining from today's motion - what I would just caution is that any disinvestment may result in some unintended consequences for the values of people's hard-won pensions. The latest statistics show that over £500 million-worth of pension funding is currently locked up in such companies. And so, we need to be careful as to how this is managed and it's important that all pension trustees have the independence to do what is best for their fund, as well as to use their knowledge to ensure that any shift in funding strategy has a minimal impact on investment returns. However, in saying this, I do believe that public bodies in Wales should be encouraged to ensure that any investments made by their individual pension schemes are environmentally and socially responsible, as well as meeting the needs of their members. Diolch.
Welsh: A gaf fi ddiolch i'r Aelod dros Alun a Glannau Dyfrdwy am gyflwyno'r ddadl ddiddorol hon heddiw? Cyn imi ddechrau, hoffwn gadarnhau y bydd y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig yn ymatal ar y cynnig sydd ger ein bron heddiw. Ni wnawn hynny oherwydd nad ydym yn cytuno â rhagosodiad y cynnig. Mae'n bwysig, os ydym am gyflawni ein hymrwymiadau newid hinsawdd, ein bod yn parhau i symud oddi wrth ein dibyniaeth ar danwydd ffosil, nid yn unig i bweru ein ceir a phweru ein cartrefi, ond hefyd er mwyn cynnal ein cyllid cyhoeddus. Wrth gwrs, mae buddsoddiadau cronfeydd pensiwn mewn pethau fel cwmnïau tanwydd ffosil wedi bod yn arfer safonol ers peth amser. Nid cronfeydd pensiwn y sector cyhoeddus yn unig sydd wedi'u defnyddio yn y ffordd hon, ond nifer o gronfeydd pensiwn y sector preifat hefyd. Felly, mae'n hen bryd inni ddechrau edrych ar ffyrdd gwahanol ac arloesol o fuddsoddi arian cyhoeddus mewn mentrau sy'n gyfrifol yn gymdeithasol ac yn amgylcheddol. Ac felly, yn hyn o beth rwy'n falch fod Partneriaeth Pensiwn llywodraeth leol Cymru wedi cyhoeddi menter ddatgarboneiddio newydd ar draws £2.5 biliwn o'i buddsoddiadau ym mis Ebrill y llynedd. Mae croeso hefyd i'r ffaith bod y bartneriaeth wedi datblygu polisi risg hinsawdd gydag uchelgais i adrodd ar gynnydd tuag at leihau cysylltiad â buddsoddiadau drud-ar-garbon. Mae cronfeydd pensiwn cynghorau ac awdurdodau lleol hefyd wedi gwneud cynnydd da ar ddatgarboneiddio eu buddsoddiadau. Er enghraifft, yn ôl yn 2018, cytunodd Cyngor Sir Fynwy, pan oedd o dan arweiniad y Ceidwadwyr, i ofyn i gronfa bensiynau Gwent ddadfuddsoddi mewn tanwyddau ffosil. Ddirprwy Lywydd, mae llwyth o waith da wedi'i wneud gan gynghorau yma yng Nghymru ar yr agenda hon, ond rwy'n cytuno'n llwyr fod angen gwneud mwy. Fodd bynnag - ac i ddychwelyd at y rheswm pam ein bod yn ymatal ar y cynnig heddiw - hoffwn rybuddio y gallai unrhyw ddadfuddsoddi arwain at ganlyniadau anfwriadol i werth pensiynau pobl sydd wedi gweithio'n galed i'w hennill. Mae'r ystadegau diweddaraf yn dangos bod gwerth dros £500 miliwn o gyllid pensiwn wedi'i gloi mewn cwmnïau o'r fath ar hyn o bryd. Ac felly, mae angen inni fod yn ofalus ynglŷn â sut y caiff hyn ei reoli ac mae'n bwysig fod pob ymddiriedolwr pensiwn yn cael annibyniaeth i wneud yr hyn sydd orau i'w cronfa, yn ogystal â defnyddio eu gwybodaeth i sicrhau bod unrhyw newid i strategaeth ariannu yn cael cyn lleied o effaith â phosibl ar enillion buddsoddiadau. Fodd bynnag, wrth ddweud hyn, credaf y dylid annog cyrff cyhoeddus yng Nghymru i sicrhau bod unrhyw fuddsoddiadau a wneir gan eu cynlluniau pensiwn unigol yn gyfrifol yn amgylcheddol ac yn gymdeithasol, yn ogystal â bodloni anghenion eu haelodau. Diolch.