Stockholm (NordSIP) – Ahead of the Cornwall G7 meeting over the weekend, The Investor Agenda released a call to action to government leaders urging them to raise their ambitions on climate policy. Laggards, they warn, risk missing out on trillions of dollars in investment if they aim too low and move too slow.
The Investor Agenda is an alliance of 457 investors, including SEB IM, managing more than US$41 trillion in assets. Its aim is to advance a common leadership agenda on the climate crisis that is unifying, comprehensive, and focused on accelerating investor action for a net-zero emissions economy.
The 2021 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis has been launched by the seven organisations Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, CDP, Ceres, Investor Group on Climate Change, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, Principles for Responsible Investment and UNEP Finance Initiative, who together form The Investor Agenda.
According to the statement, governments cannot falter in their commitment to reduce global net CO2 emissions by 45% compared to 2010 levels by 2030, limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
“As the world prepares to gather for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), we encourage all countries to significantly strengthen their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2030 and to ensure a planned transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. (…) We urge all governments to step up their collective response to the climate crisis,” the signatories say in the statement.
In the statement, the signatories call on all governments to undertake five priority actions before COP26 in November:
- Strengthen their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2030 in line with limiting warming to 1.5°C;
- Commit to a domestic mid-century, net-zero emissions target and outline a pathway with ambitious interim targets including clear decarbonization roadmaps for each carbon-intensive sector;
- Implement domestic policies to deliver these targets, incentivise private investments in zero-emissions solutions and ensure ambitious pre-2030 action; including: “the removal of fossil fuel subsidies by set deadlines, the phase out of thermal coal-based electricity generation by set deadlines in line with credible 1.5°C temperature pathways, the avoidance of new carbon-intensive infrastructure (e.g. no new coal power plants) and the development of just transition plans for affected workers and communities.”
- Ensure COVID-19 economic recovery plans support the transition to net-zero emissions and enhance resilience; and
- Commit to implementing mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
“To reach the targets in the Paris Agreement, all stakeholders in society must contribute and cooperate. Companies play a very important role, but the plans and goals that states set are crucial when it comes to steering us towards the goals in the Paris Agreement,” says Elisabet Jamal Bergström (Pictured), Head of Sustainability and Governance at SEB Investment Management.
We are committed to engaging with companies not just on the goal of reaching net-zero, but on how they will get there,” State Street Global Advisors Global Chief Investment Officer, Lori Heinel, also said, on the occasion of the publication of the statement. “The push to net-zero is both urgent and necessary, and equally important is understanding the transition pathways companies will choose to achieve the commitment and deliver value for investors over the long term,” Heinel added.
“To help unlock the trillions of dollars in investment needed for the net-zero transition, governments should be moving swiftly to price greenhouse gas emissions, end fossil fuel subsidies, deliver an orderly phase-out of coal-power and other high-emitting sources of energy, and ensure a just transition plan for affected workers and communities,” outgoing Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) CEO Fiona Reynolds, said.
Image courtesy of SEB IM
