August 2024
01Aug

UK. Savers warned of pensions impact on deforestation in Jane Goodall ad campaign

Jane Goodall and Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel have joined forces for a new ad campaign that warns UK savers of their pension investments’ hidden impact on global forests. The “Saving Jane” advert released on Wednesday shows an animated version of the zoologist saving up money in a pension pot to visit a tropical rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia, only to discover the money was invested in companies destroying the natural world she wanted to protect. The film, which features a re-recording of...

August 1, 2024
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July 2024
31Jul

Climate Polarization and Green Investment

By Anders Anderson & David T. Robinson We build a nationally representative sample of retirement savers in Sweden to study how climate polarizaton affects individual investment decisions. After the record-breaking heat wave of 2018, respondents in regions with strong support for a right-wing, anti-climate party grow less concerned about climate change, while respondents outside these regions grow more concerned. Those growing more concerned rebalance their retirement portfolios toward climate-friendly mutual funds; those growing less concerned rebalance out of these funds,...

July 31, 2024
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19Jul

Dirty Air and Green Investments: The Impact of Pollution Information on Portfolio Allocations

By Raymond Fisman, Pulak Ghosh, Arkodipta Sarkar & Jian Zhang We study exposure to pollution information and investment portfolio allocations, exploiting the rollout of air quality monitoring stations in India. Using a triple-differences framework, we show that retail investors' investments in "brown" stocks are negatively related to local air pollution after a monitoring station appears nearby, with particularly pronounced effects on ``alert'' dates when air quality is listed as harmful to the general population. The effect of pollution information on...

July 19, 2024
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11Jul

Pensions and their role on the threat of climate change

Climate change is an enormous challenge and threat globally. Large investors, such as pension schemes, can have a significant influence in addressing this challenge. NetZeroWeekTM provides a reminder of the risks we face and actions that can be taken. In this article, we aim to answer two important questions: • Do pension schemes have a duty to address the threat of climate change; and • What role can pension schemes play in addressing the challenges faced? As long-term investors, trustees of pension schemes...

July 11, 2024
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03Jul

Invesco Launches New Global Climate ETF with $1.6 Billion from Pension Insurer Varma

Global asset manager Invesco announced the launch of the Invesco MSCI Global Climate 500 ETF (KLMT), and new exchange traded fund providing exposure to companies meeting environmental and climate criteria and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The new ETF, trading on the NYSE, is being launched with a $1.6 billion investment by Finnish pension insurer, Varma. Timo Sallinen, Varma’s Head of Listed Securities, said: “We are very pleased to work alongside Invesco, one the world’s biggest asset managers, and MSCI, a leading global index...

July 3, 2024
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May 2024
17May

Green Pensions Guide. A short guide for organisations greening their money

By Make My Money Matter  All organisations from businesses to charities, from SMEs to global brands can play an important role in tackling the climate crisis. Sustainability policies have become an expected standard across all sectors and industries, yet one of the ways organisations can have the most impact is often missing from the picture. Their money. How our pensions are invested now will shape the future we’ll retire into. The companies causing irreversible climate damage like companies at the...

May 17, 2024
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16May

Up to 246 million older people may be exposed to heat risk by 2050 due to global warming

By Bob Yirka   A team of Earth and environmental scientists at the CMCC Foundation–Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, working with a pair of colleagues from Boston University, has found evidence suggesting that as many as 246 million people around the globe may be at risk of heat exposure by 2050 due to global warming and an aging population. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the group describes how they used climate models to assess global hotspots and compared them with population projections for...

May 16, 2024
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02May

UK. Seeing the wood for the trees: reinjecting meaning into sustainability reporting

IGG’s Tegs Harding takes a holistic view of sustainability reporting, incorporating nature-based and social factors as well as established climate issues. Step by step, we are seeing more people realise the power pensions have to play an integral role in securing a more sustainable future. Trustees are central to this by meeting their fiduciary duties towards members, including reporting and administrative requirements. Trustees of defined contribution (DC) schemes are responsible for ensuring their members get the best retirement outcome they can, which...

May 2, 2024
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April 2024
22Apr

US. Climate-related funds grow 16% in 2023 to $540 billion — Morningstar

Assets in mutual and exchange-traded funds with a climate-related mandate globally rose by 16% in 2023 to $540 billion, according to data collected by financial services firm Morningstar. The report said the increase was driven by continued inflows, product launches and market appreciation. Europe accounted for 84% of the climate-related assets, while China and the U.S. had market shares of 7% and 6%, respectively. However, the $40 billion of inflows into climate funds last year represented the lowest levels in four...

April 22, 2024
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19Apr

Pension Fund Trustees and Fiduciary Duties: Decision-making in the context of Sustainability and the subject of Climate Change

By Financial Markets Law Committee For pension funds, setting investment strategy, principles and policies and making investment decisions have all become more challenging in the context of sustainability and the subject of climate change.  This has given rise to renewed uncertainty over what the “fiduciary duties” or trust duties owed by trustees of pension funds require in this context. Since the pensions sector is a major allocator of capital, legal uncertainties affecting pension fund trustees have the potential to adversely affect...

April 19, 2024
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