The £5.4 billion fund provides pensions for 140,000 people.
Avon Pension Fund has announced its new carbon net zero target.
The fund, which is the local government pension scheme serving Bristol, Bath, and surrounding areas, has agreed a fresh target to achieve carbon net zero by 2045, bringing forward the target by five years from 2050.
The £5.4bn fund provides pensions for 140,000 people. This news builds on work the scheme has already completed to make its investments more climate-friendly.
This includes £400m committed in 2020 to renewable infrastructure and £2bn invested over 2021 to 2023 in climate-aligned sustainable equities.
Councillor Paul Crossley, chair of the Avon pension fund committee, said: “Climate change poses the biggest risk to our planet. There is no Planet B and we can all play our part in protecting Planet A. During 2023 we consulted extensively with local councillors, staff, employers, and trade unions. We also ran a member survey which received over 5,000 responses.
“There was broad agreement among stakeholders that the Avon Pension Fund should set more ambitious climate goals and we are delighted to bring forward our net zero target to 2045, an ambitious but achievable date. We will keep this target under regular review and will seek to accelerate further as technology and government policy develop.”
Measures agreed by the fund’s pension committee in December 2023 also include a new approach to investment in high carbon companies, which by 2030 must be aligned with net zero, otherwise the fund will divest from such companies.
It said that it will independently monitor progress against criteria provided by external organisations such as Climate Action 100+.
As well as the new climate targets and approach, the Committee is assessing how the fund can allocate assets to nature based investments, such as investing in forests, timber, agriculture and funds targeting biodiversity.
Nick Dixon, head of pensions at Avon Pension Fund, said: “We believe there’s increasing convergence between financial returns and responsible investing. We want to seize this opportunity for the Fund to achieve its objectives in a sustainable way, contributing positively to the climate transition. Our new strategy delivers a step change in our approach, focused on meaningful real world impacts.”
