Ms Emma Jane Joyce:

We raised these issues pointing to the definition of "fossil fuel company" in the Bill, which is very wide. The big technology companies are big energy consumers and part of their business is often to look at alternative energy sources. These are often renewable based but sometimes they are underpinned by natural gas. The current definition describes a company whose business either wholly or partly engages in the use of these fossil fuels. It is to highlight that potential risk within, say, the ICT sector.

Within the health care sector, it is the big infrastructure. A hospital or a nursing home has a backup generator which burns fossil fuels. That would fall under the processing of fossil fuels. We understand that we do not believe these issues are the intent of the Bill but it points to the wide definition, which could be legally interpreted to be very wide-ranging if not tightly defined.