FERRET INVESTIGATION by PAUL DOBSON

Pensions for Scotland’s environment agency are invested in fossil fuel giants and an English water company that spilled more sewage than any other last year, The Ferret has found.

Employees of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) have their pensions invested through the Falkirk Pension Fund (FPF), run by Falkirk Council, on of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.

Among the oil and gas companies the pension fund invests in are Shell, BP and SSE – the owner of Scotland’s most polluting industrial site, which is regulated by Sepa.

The fund also holds shares in United Utilities, which is responsible for water in the north west of England and was criticised this year for its role in the sewage scandal south of the border.

Environmental campaigners said there is a “clear conflict of interest if the financial future of Sepa staff is effectively bankrolled” by the type of companies they need to regulate. The Scottish Greens said Sepa should “use their influence” as a major employer paying into the Falkirk fund to “ensure investments are no longer funding climate breakdown”.

The full story is on THE FERRET website

Top of page picture is if Dumbarton-based environmental campaigners helping to clear the Clyde shore at Levengrove in Dumbarton.