{"id":82493,"date":"2019-09-23T23:50:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T21:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/news\/investors-make-unprecedented-commitment-to-net-zero-emissions\/"},"modified":"2019-09-23T23:50:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T21:50:00","slug":"investors-make-unprecedented-commitment-to-net-zero-emissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/news\/investors-make-unprecedented-commitment-to-net-zero-emissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors make unprecedented commitment to net zero emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

UN-backed asset owner alliance to drive portfolio companies to carbon
\nneutrality by 2050<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

In one of the boldest actions yet by the world\u2019s
\nlargest investors to decarbonize the global economy, an alliance of the world\u2019s
\nlargest pension funds and insurers \u2013 responsible for directing more than US$ 2.4
\ntrillion in investments \u2013 has today committed to carbon-neutral investment
\nportfolios by 2050.<\/p>\n

This commitment by the newly launched, United Nations-convened Net-Zero
\nAsset Owner Alliance<\/em> was announced today at the UN Secretary-General\u2019s Climate
\nAction Summit, which brought together governments, companies and civil society
\nto strengthen commitments and accelerate the implementation of the Paris
\nAgreement on Climate Change.<\/p>\n

The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is an example of investors stepping up to
\nprotect people and planet with the knowledge that companies that transform
\ntheir businesses to deliver a low carbon economy will benefit most from the
\nopportunities presented by climate change.<\/p>\n

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said, \u201cThere are no short-cuts to decisive climate action. We need to take a longterm view. I applaud the leadership of the investors in this Alliance. Their
\ncommitment sends a strong signal that financial markets and investors are
\nlistening to science, and moving us to a path of resilience and
\nsustainability.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n

Asset owners \u2013 so called because they are the principal holders of retirement
\nsavings or are insurance companies investing their customers\u2019 premiums \u2013
\nrepresent some of the largest pools of capital on the planet. Their investment
\nportfolios are highly diversified and exposed to all sectors of the global economy. <\/p>\n

Concerned about the disruptive impacts that unabated climate change will have
\non societies and economies, now and in the future, responsible asset owners are
\npowerful allies in global action to fight climate change and limit the rise in global
\ntemperature to no more than 1.5\u00b0C warming.<\/p>\n

As long-term investors who must look far into the future to fund their liabilities,
\nasset owners are keen to ensure that the global economy prospers, that climaterelated risks are addressed, and that opportunities to invest in a cleaner
\ntomorrow are captured.<\/p>\n

The Alliance was initiated by Allianz, Caisse des D\u00e9p\u00f4ts, La Caisse de d\u00e9p\u00f4t et
\nplacement du Qu\u00e9bec (CDPQ), Folksam Group, PensionDanmark and Swiss Re at
\nthe beginning of 2019. Since then, Alecta, AMF, CalPERS, Nordea Life and Pension,
\nStorebrand, and Zurich have joined as founding members.<\/p>\n

Convened by UNEP\u2019s Finance Initiative and the Principles for Responsible
\nInvestment, the Alliance is supported by WWF and is part of the Mission 2020
\ncampaign, an initiative led by Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of
\nthe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).<\/p>\n

\u201cMitigating climate change is the challenge of our lifetime. Politics, business
\nand societies across the globe need to act as one to rapidly reduce climate
\nemissions. We, as asset owners, will live up to our responsibility and, in
\ndialogue with the companies in which we invest, steer towards low-carbon
\nbusiness practices. We\u2019ve already started and, by 2050, our portfolios will
\nbe climate neutral,\u201d<\/em> said Oliver B\u00e4te, Allianz\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n

The members of the Alliance will immediately start to engage with the companies
\nin which they are investing to ensure they decarbonise their business models.
\nInitiatives such as the UN Global Compact \u201cBusiness Ambition for 1.5\u00b0C \u2014 Our
\nOnly Future\u201d campaign will be a clear partner in mobilising corporations to
\ncommit to net zero emissions. The Alliance will also collaborate with other
\ninitiatives, such as the Investor Agenda, Science Based Targets initiative, Climate
\nAction 100+, and the newly announced 2050 Ambition Alliance.<\/p>\n

The members of the Alliance will hold themselves publicly accountable on their
\nprogress by setting and publicly reporting on intermediate targets in line with
\nArticle 4.9 of the Paris Agreement. By committing to transitioning their
\ninvestment portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, asset
\nowners are significantly raising the bar for other investors, industry associations
\nand, importantly, the global economy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Net-Zero Alliance is the recognition that institutional investors
\ncollectively have an important role to play in fostering the energy transition
\nthe world needs. For investors like CDPQ, there are so many opportunities to
\nearn commercial returns by investing in low-carbon solutions and to work
\nwith portfolio companies to decarbonize,\u201d<\/em> said CDPQ CEO, Michael Sabia.
\n\u201cCombined with the necessary changes in public policies, investors\u2019 actions
\nwill induce real change in every sector.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

To have maximum impact, existing Alliance members actively encourage
\nadditional asset owners to join them in their quest to decarbonise investment
\nportfolios and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In one of the boldest actions yet by the world\u2019s
\nlargest investors to decarbonize the global economy, an alliance of the world\u2019s
\nlargest pension funds and insurers \u2013 responsible for directing more than US$ 2.4
\ntrillion in investments \u2013 has today committed to carbon-neutral investment
\nportfolios by 2050.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":82491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1470],"tags":[1655,1849,1826,1682,1651,2094,2007,1453,1685],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82493"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}