Stockholm (NordSIP) – As sustainable investors seek to combine financial returns with climate impact, consistent and reliable data remains one of the main recurring concerns affecting their decisions. Regulators and industry bodies alike have launched several initiatives to address these issues.
In the latest such step, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) announced it was joining the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF). PCAF was launched globally in September 2019 and is currently subscribed to by more than 350 financial institutions who work together to develop the Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry. This new standard aims to measure and disclose the greenhouse gas emissions of their loans and investments.
“We are delighted to be part of this industry-led initiative. As financial institutions around the world continue to build an understanding of and report on their climate risk and opportunities, the standardization of climate risk accounting methodologies will prove invaluable. We look forward to collaborating with PCAF to further develop standards in this area over the coming years,” Christopher Wright, Head of ESG Risk Monitoring at NBIM says.
The announcement follows last year’s launch of NBIM’s 2025 Climate action plan, which includes a commitment to push companies in its portfolio to align their activities with global net zero emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. “At the heart of our efforts is driving portfolio companies to net zero emissions by 2050 through credible targets and transition plans for reducing their scope 1, scope 2 and material scope 3 emissions,” NBIM explains. The sovereign fund will also expand its climate risk reporting at the portfolio level, building on leading international standards. It started aligning its reporting with the PCAF Standard in its 2022 TCFD report.
NBIM manages assets worth over NOK12 trillion, equivalent to approximately US$1.3 trillion and is the largest single owner in the world’s stock markets, owning almost 1.5% of all shares in the world’s listed companies. NBIM aims to ensure responsible and long-term management of revenue from Norway’s oil and gas resources so that this wealth benefits both the current and future generations of Norway.
On July 18th, the Government Pension Fund Global, the asset owner behind NBIM, was considered the world’s most transparent investment fund according to Global Pension Transparency Benchmark, published by CEM Benchmarking and Top1000funds.com.
