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The COVID-19 crisis has presented an opportunity to reshape a future which is green, inclusive and sustainable. Through the recovery and the years that follow, PRI will be working with investors to help realise this more prosperous reality. This will include an emphasis on moving beyond risk and return to include real-world impact, a focus on social issues and more ambitious stewardship practices as well as strong action on climate. This session outlines how the PRI is calling on the global investor community to help in building back better.[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” 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title=”Speaker” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” 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title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]
The world has finally woken up and realised the importance of sustainability. We have the opportunity to leverage the crisis to build back better.
‘The SDGs are the business plan and North Star for the world. We don’t need a new plan, we just need to execute on and invest in the existing plan.’
We are accelerating into the era of Responsible Investment 2.0 or 3.0, which means shifting the dialog from risk/return to risk/return/real world impact.
In the past, social issues have been treated as the poor cousin of ESG and this cannot continue to be the case. Many investors are still unclear on how best to fulfil their responsibilities on human rights. PRI’s aim is to raise awareness of human rights obligations, as has been done with climate over the past 5 years.
Legal frameworks need to evolve to help investors implement sustainability outcomes.
Further work is required around data to ensure we can better measure risk and impact.
We aim to usher in a new ambitious era of stewardship. We cannot engage on everything so let’s get on the same page and focus on the most pressing systemic issues facing the world. Asset owners and corporates can help by signing up to the net zero commitment.
PRI’s next evolution of reporting will focus more on outcomes, not just process.
PRI wants to be a big tent organisation that works with all parties, not just the leading parties. Nonetheless, PRI intends to raise its minimum standards for ratings and new signatories.
I’m not sure we will hit the targets across all 17 SDGs in the next decade but I’m confident we will make significant progress for people and planet.
One of the most important, upcoming challenges at CalSTRS is how the fund should evaluate Chinese investments from a human capital and environmental standpoint, says Chris Ailman, chief investment officer at the giant pension fund.
Last Thursday, March 12 the US Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis heard from industry experts, including Bob Litterman and Frederic Samama, on the economic risks of climate change. They all pushed for a price on carbon and for action, now.
Being passively invested shouldn’t mean being passive with regard to responsibilities says the Church of England Pension Board which has developed a new climate transition index with FTSE Russell, LSE and TPI that is the first to incorporate forward-looking climate data.
Designing a 1.5°C asset portfolio to mobilise capital for a sustainable future requires some big thinking and intensive collaboration, not to mention transformational change that extends way beyond the borders of the investment industry. So what role do investors play?
The largest pension fund in Europe, the €450 billion Dutch ABP, set out its sustainability and responsible investment plan for 2025 last month. The plan sets out long-term objectives – in line with the goal of a climate-neutral economy by 2050 – as well as the short-term steps to achieve that.
The UK’s £30 billion Brunel Pension Partnership is taking investing in a carbon zero future to a whole new level. It has just published a far-reaching Climate Change Policy filled with actions and deadlines linked to the goals of the Paris Agreement.
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