German Allianz, Canadian Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), French Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), Swedish Folksam Group, Swiss Re and Pen-sionDanmark are the inaugural members of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. The Alliance was launched and presented at the UN Climate Summit in New York on Monday 23rd September.
The goal for the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is to accelerate the decarbonization of the global economy to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The members of the Alliance are committed to ensure, that their investment portfolios are carbon neutral by 2050 and thereby contributing to limit the global temperature increase by 2100 to no more than 1.5°C. The Alliance is convened by UNEP FI (UN Environment Programme – Finance Initiative) and the PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment), with support from WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and is part of Mission 2020, a climate campaign that seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
PensionDanmark is already close to complying with the ultimate goal of net zero emissions because the offsetting CO2-savings from vast investments in renewable energy exceeds PensionDanmarks share of the carbon footprint of the about 800 companies in the equity portfolio. Nevertheless, PensionDanmark wants to make an even bigger contribution by cooperating with some of the world’s leading investors and continue to decarbonize investments in private equity and real estate.
“The world community has taken bold action with the Paris agreement and as investors we must play our part. The global economy has to transform its ways of production and use of energy. This transition needs finance and innovation and PensionDanmark wants to contribute to that, to take responsibility, and we look forward to cooperate and share experiences with our peers in this respect. The Alliance can act together as active owners and ask companies to transform their business models to comply with the Paris Agreement,” says PensionDanmark’s CEO Torben Möger Pedersen.
“For the wider industry the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance should be able to demonstrate that sustainable investing can go hand in hand with attractive investment returns. In other words: It’s possible to do good and do well at the same time,” says Torben Möger Pedersen.
The members of the Alliance commit to
- transitioning their investment portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050,
- apply the best available scientific knowledge including the findings of IPCC,
- report on progress by establishing intermediate targets every five years.
Founding members
Alecta, Allianz, AMF Pension, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), Calpers, FolkSam Group, Nordea Life and Pension, Pen-sionDanmark, Storebrand, Swiss Re, Zürich Insurance Group.
