On the go: The circa £9.3bn Essex County Council Pension Fund has made a £100mn anchor commitment to the Stafford Carbon Offset Opportunity Fund as it further expands its global timberland portfolio and accelerates its transition to net zero.
Managed by Stafford Capital Partners, the Stafford Carbon Offset Opportunity Fund is a new impact fund that will develop commercial timberland plantations and restore natural forests on a global basis.
The fund will seek to deliver returns as well as a supply of carbon credits verified by recognised international carbon standards. The pension fund intends for the investment to lower the overall carbon intensity of its investment portfolio.
Susan Barker, chair of the Essex Pension Fund strategy board and investment committee, commented: “The fund was one of the first LGPS funds to invest in the timberland sector. Over the last few years, significant improvement in our funding position has allowed us to take the opportunity to implement our medium-term derisking programme which has resulted in the fund’s strategic allocation to this asset class increasing from 2 per cent to 4 per cent.”
She added that the investment “reinforces our commitment to being responsible investors and the general direction the fund is taking in regard to our aspirations to have circa 10 per cent of the fund invested in impactful investment solutions that delivers both positive environmental and social benefits that would not otherwise happen, which not only aligns with our responsible investment policy and priorities, but our commitment to achieving net zero targets in the future”.
Since its first timberland investment in 2011, the pension fund has built a global portfolio equivalent to 816 square km — equivalent to approximately a quarter of the area of the county of Essex — which it claims can offset the equivalent carbon emitted by more than 420,000 cars per year.
This article originally appeared on MandateWire.com
