WEST Yorkshire Pension Fund will not disinvest in the fossil fuel sector in the immediate future but will continue to monitor the sector's progress while investing in green energy technology, members of Bradford Council's scrutiny of overview committee heard.

Rodney Barton, director of the WYPF which is administered by Bradford Council, said despite earlier slumps in oil and gas prices, which have since recovered, the main companies such as BP and Shell continued to pay their dividends.

"Over the long term the performance of these shares has been robust, resilient and consistently strong.

"The Fund is better off as a result of holding these investments for the last 30 years by the equivalent of £4 million per annum," he said.

"The Investment Advisory Panel - consisting of elected members of the five West Yorkshire District Councils - has a responsibility to ensure the portfolio is balanced and not taking undue risks against the index.

"Excluding fossil fuels would result in a significant divergence from the index and introducing a risk into the portfolio," he explained.

He added that a switch from oil and gas to alternative energy sources would take several decades and that energy companies should be taking account of this in their business plans.

He said WYPF had been engaging on climate change since the early 1990s and had been a key sponsor of resolutions to companies in the sector requiring them to demonstrate how they were addressing climate change and its risks.

The Fund was also a member of the Institutional Investors Group On Climate Change and encouraged companies in which its members invest to address risks and opportunities and shift to a lower carbon economy.

The committee noted the IAP would consider the annual report of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum which includes engagement activities with fossil fuel companies; agrees with the policy of positive engagement set by the IAP; welcomes the progress achieved towards ensuring fossil fuel companies revise business plans and welcome continuing investment into green energy technology and production as the industry develops.