Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Thank you very much Chair. I thank Mr. Makhlouf for the presentation. I am going to focus on the issue of sustainability. I am aware of the sustainable investment charter that the bank produced in 2022. Within that charter there are three areas of focus in the context of sustainable investment, the first of which is the integration of environmental, social and governance, ESG, criteria into investment. The second area of focus is impact and looking to potentially positive areas for green and sustainable investment, including green bonds. The third area is the one I want to focus on today, which is the question of exclusions, that is, companies, products and areas in which we should not be seeing investment. The Central Bank itself has an investment exclusion policy and I want to focus on that.

Global research from ActionAid has shown that bank financing to the fossil fuel industry in the global south reached $3.2 trillion in the seven years since the Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted. In fact, since that agreement banks have provided 20 times more financing to fossil fuels and agricultural activities in the global south than all the climate finance provided to countries on the front line of the climate crisis. This includes many of the large banks across Europe including HSBC, BNP Paribas, and Barclays, as well as Citigroup in America and others. I am not going to list all of the other international banks involved but I am interested in the role that the Central Bank of Ireland is playing in relation to promoting and pressing for sustainable investment and in particular, with regard to the exclusion of investment in fossil fuels. Is it part of the Central Bank's own investment exclusion policy that it will not invest in fossil fuels? This relates to some of the other issues this committee considered when it looked at the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. It was a matter of very serious public concern that over €4 million in funds was invested in companies operating in occupied Palestinian territories. That is of serious concern to me as a co-sponsor of the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill. I do not think we should be trading at all with occupied territories. Does the Central Bank have any investment in occupied territories, in fossil fuels, in conflict, in defence industries or in military manufacturing? Separately, in its charter and in the context of its leading role in setting policy on sustainability, ethics and human rights, does its investment exclusion policy cover fossil fuels, occupied territories and military or weapons manufacture? Are those areas part of the investment exclusion strategy promoted by the Central Bank?