ESG spotlight: A roundup of the latest news on environmental, social and governance initiatives, with the Railways Pension Scheme pledging to reduce carbon emissions, Local Government Pension Scheme funds investing in a renewable strategy, and new signatories to the Green Pensions Charter.
Railpen to target net-zero portfolio by 2050
Railpen, which manages £32bn of assets on behalf of the Railways Pension Scheme, has committed to delivering a net-zero portfolio by 2050 or sooner, while aiming to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The asset manager published a plan on Wednesday that is aligned with the Paris Agreement, the policy and legislated environmental aims of the UK government, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming of 1.5C. The roadmap to decarbonisation is primarily being achieved through corporate engagement to align investee companies with Paris goals and increase the investment portfolio’s climate resilience, Railpen said, considering active ownership to be critical in incurring responsible investment and achieving its aims. As a result, Railpen aims to increase its engagement target from issues responsible for 70 per cent of portfolio material financed emissions to 90 per cent.
LGPS funds invest in renewable assets
Nine unnamed UK Local Government Pension Scheme funds have invested a total of $605m (£444m) into BlackRock’s Global Renewable Fund III. The strategy invests in global climate infrastructure assets, primarily in renewable power generation, across the Americas, Europe and Asia. BlackRock stated that since LGPS funds remain open to new members, these schemes have “a more open-ended time horizon and requirement for exposure to growth and income assets”.
Green charter signed by 11 new scheme sponsors
Supermarket giant Tesco, hardware retailer Travis Perkins, and creative agency Mother are three of the 11 new signatories of the Green Pensions Charter. Developed by campaign group Make My Money Matter, the charter calls on all organisations to green their pensions, and mounts pressure on the industry to make their default schemes green ahead of COP26 in Glasgow this year. MMMM stated that Anthesis UK, International Institute for Environment and Development, Ovo, Bethnal Green Ventures, SouthPole, The Panoply, Tred and Quadrature Capital will also sign the charter, bringing the total number of signatories to 63.
