Institutional investors pledged on October 4 to use their collective financial weight to encourage companies and governments to act to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The Investor Statement on Climate Change, signed by a number of Europe’s largest pension funds and asset managers that manage assets worth more than £850bn, says that climate change is not in the long-term interests of the millions of savers whose assets are managed by institutional investors and that investment decisions taken now will have a major impact on the world’s climate. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, an industry-wide group for pension funds and institutional investors sponsored the statement. The investors said government should play a big role, leading the response to climate change with a framework that provides incentives and investment certainty to companies and individuals. “We as institutional investors recognise that the long-term interests of the millions of savers whom we represent and the organisations they work for are inextricably intertwined with long-term climate issues and this statement is about encouraging real change right now,” said Rory Sullivan, head of investor responsibility at Insight Investment, HBOS‘s asset manager. Sullivan, who sits on the IIGCC steering committee, added: “We need an investment environment that provides an orderly shift to a low carbon economy so that we can ensure a more stable climate for current and future generations.”
The European socially responsible investment market is now worth more than 1 trillion euros, according to the European Social Investment Forum. Across nine countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK), the SRI market accounts for 10-15% of total European funds under management, a 36% growth since December 31, 2002. Eurosif said.
“Readers of the study will find a European SRI market that has considerably changed since 2003, when we last published our report,” said Eurosif’s executive director Matt Christensen.
“Across Europe, there are signs of robust SRI strategies, increased mandates from institutional players and the growing involvement of more traditional financial services providers.”
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