ABP wants to offer all our participants a good pension now and in the future – one they can enjoy in a livable world. That is why we carefully consider the return, risk, and cost, as well as the social responsibility and sustainability performance of each investment decision we make. In our new policy on sustainable and responsible investing (SRI), we reestablish our goals as long-term investors and explain how we intend to achieve them. Our vision on a sustainable future looks toward 2050 and outlines our 2030 ambitions based on this vision. Our concrete goals for 2025 are the first step on the way to achieving our long-term ambitions and vision – all built on the foundation of our 2015-2020 policy.
China’s unexpected pledge last September to become carbon neutral by 2060 has left many observers both excited and perplexed.
Was it a logical next step after the country’s commitment to the 2015 Paris climate agreement, yet another case of political greenwashing at a time when many other countries are falling behind on their pledges or, perhaps, a real game-changing moment for humankind? Maybe it was a bit of all three. Only time will tell.
Recognizing that climate-related financial reporting is still evolving, the Task Force’s recommendations provide a foundation to improve investors’ and others’ ability to appropriately assess and price climate-related risk and opportunities. The Task Force’s recommendations aim to be ambitious, but also practical for near-term adoption. The Task Force expects to advance the quality of mainstream financial disclosures related to the potential effects of climate change on organizations today and in the future and to increase investor engagement with boards and senior management on climate-related issues.
A piece from Tariq Fancy, Ex-CIO for Sustainable Investing at Blackrock / Founder of Rumie.org: “This is the first of a three-part essay that shares how my thinking evolved from evangelizing ‘sustainable investing’ for the world’s largest investment firm to decrying it as a dangerous placebo that harms the public interest. It’s not short. But this topic is critically important: it lies at the heart of how we reform capitalism to address important environmental and social challenges with concrete action. I challenge business leaders who have advocated the ideas I question below to offer a serious rebuttal.”
As countries turn the Paris Agreement goals into nationally legislated objectives to achieve Net Zero, the financial sector will need to adapt and allocate capital according to their understanding of the opportunities and risks in the transition. Financial institutions will also increasingly be expected to disclose the alignment of their investments to net zero and show how clients’ money is invested. Existing climate-related measures all serve an important purpose for this community, but aren’t yet as forward-looking, robust, decision useful and comparable as they need to be to measure portfolio alignment.
This report is an excellent critical assessment of the strengths and trade-offs of the options available to measure the alignment of investments with climate goals and is an important contribution to the debate. I hope that it will serve as a basis for discussion in the industry on the approaches to measurement so that by COP 26, investors and creditors can robustly answer how their clients’ money is invested for the transition.
This Net Zero America study aims to inform and ground political, business, and societal conversations regarding what it would take for the U.S. to achieve an economy-wide target of net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. Achieving this goal, i.e. building an economy that emits no more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than are permanently removed and stored each year, is essential to halt the buildup of climate-warming gases in the atmosphere and avert costly damages from climate change. A growing number of pledges are being made by major corporations, municipalities, states, and national governments to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. This study provides granular guidance on what getting to net-zero really requires and on the actions needed to translate these pledges into tangible progress.