The Alliance represents over US$ 4.6 trillion and counting.
We are delivering on a bold commitment to transition our investment portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 and we want fellow leadership institutions to join us. We can demonstrate how investors can play a key role in helping the world deliver on a 1.5°C target, and in doing so, deliver our part in addressing Article 2.1c of the Paris Agreement.
Initiated by Allianz, Caisse des Dépôts, La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Folksam Group, PensionDanmark, and SwissRe, they were joined at the launch by founding members Alecta, AMF, CalPERS, Nordea Life and Pension, Storebrand, and Zurich. Aviva, AXA, CNP Assurances, Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR), Generali, the Church of England, Munich Re, ERAFP, KENFO and Wespath have recently signed up to the growing group.
The Alliance can be summarised in three parts i) making the commitment, ii) boosting the efficacy of like-minded initiatives, and iii) reporting on progress.
TESTIMONIALS JOIN THE ALLIANCE
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Jens Munch Holst, CEO, AkademikerPension
“As investors, we need to play our part in making sure the economy recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in a more sustainable way. It is key that we invest decisively in cleaner technologies and ask businesses and governments to do their part in breaking the curve on global warming and move to carbon neutrality. We look forward to sharing experiences and joining forces with like-minded investors to this end.” |
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Magnus Billing, CEO, Alecta
“As investors we have a part to play in the climate transition, together with businesses, policy makers and society. Joining the Net-Zero Asset-Owners Alliance underlines Alecta’s commitment to strengthen our portfolio’s alignment with the Paris Agreement. We aim to use our voice as owners and engage with companies to increase climate disclosure and transition, to explore new investment opportunities that align good returns and positive climate impact, and to contribute to the development of tools and methods for integration of climate in investment analysis.” |
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Oliver Baete, CEO, Allianz
“Mitigating climate change is the challenge of our lifetime. Politics, business, and societies across the globe need to act as one to rapidly reduce climate emissions. We, as asset owners, will live up to our responsibility and, in dialogue with companies in which we invest, steer towards low-carbon business practices. We’ve already started and, by 2050, our portfolios will be climate neutral.” |
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Johan Sidenmark, CEO, AMF Pension
“As a pension company, with customer relationships often lasting for decades, a long-term investment horizon is a natural and necessary approach for us. Integrating sustainability in our asset management –in particular risks and opportunities following climate change – is necessary if we want to fulfil our obligations not only today but also in fifty or a hundred years. Following our commitment to the Paris agreement, we want to be part of the transition towards a low-carbon economy and continuously work with alignment of our investment portfolio with the 1.5 degree target. Therefore, the goal of net-zero emission motivates us, and we look forward to being a part of this promising and timely initiative. “ |
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Maurice Tulloch, CEO, Aviva
“Contributing to a more sustainable world is at the heart of our purpose. We’re investing with sustainability in mind, are engaging with companies through active stewardship and have been lowering our footprint for some time now. We want to accelerate our efforts. It makes good business sense, and it matters to our customers, partners, and the communities we work in. We will continue to make positive changes and are therefore proud to join the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance.” |
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Thomas Buberl, CEO, AXA Group
“Our target is to contain the ‘warming potential’ of our investments to 1.5°C by 2050. But because we operate in a business environment which is not ‘Paris-aligned’, our investment universe is far above 1.5°C today. This is why we undertake this commitment with the expectation that governments and the actors of the ‘real economy’ will also take and implement meaningful climate commitments which we are keen to support. That is also why we have decided to join the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, which is precisely designed to push this agenda. As part of this Alliance, we are notably looking forward to contributing to the development of common metrics and methodologies” |
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Morten Nilsson, CEO, BT PS Management “Asset owners are uniquely placed to use their influence to drive decarbonisation and influence who has access to capital through setting targets to tackle climate change. But we cannot achieve this goal alone. Working in collaboration with other asset owners through the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance will not only be invaluable in supporting our goal, but we hope that working with others will also help the industry achieve the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.” |
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Kristian Fok, CIO, Cbus
“Cbus recognizes that to decarbonize the global economy in line with the Paris Agreement requires collective action. Cbus is determined to play our part in these global advocacy efforts. The climate solutions we invest in should strengthen community resilience. Every investor has to be mindful to the risks of leaving communities behind |
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Marcie Frost, CEO, CalPERS
“CalPERS recognizes that climate change poses urgent and systemic risk given our responsibility to protect our members financial assets and provide the long term returns that can pay pensions for this and coming generations. The net zero alliance gives us the platform to drive the change needed to achieve the demanding goals of the Paris Agreement. We are committed to the advocacy, engagement and integration of climate risk and opportunity across our portfolio to meet that challenge as fiduciaries to nearly 2 million Californian public servants”./i> |
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Eric Lombard, CEO, CDC
“For nearly 20 years, Caisse des Dépôts has been actively involved in the fight against global warming, with concrete and quantifiable results. As an institutional investor, it is proud to commit to a 1.5°C roadmap today. This ambition is strong and must be supported by a rigorous methodology, to which Caisse des Dépôts’ teams will actively contribute. By joining this alliance, we want to take a further step in aligning our financings with the Paris Agreement objectives and send a strong signal to the companies in which we took participations, creating therefore a leverage effect on the whole economy.” |
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Michael Sabia, CEO, CDPQ
“The Net-Zero Alliance is the recognition that institutional investors collectively have an important role to play in fostering the energy transition the world needs. For investors like CDPQ, there are so many opportunities to earn commercial returns by investing in low-carbon solutions and to work with portfolio companies to decarbonize. Combined with the necessary changes in public policies, investors’ actions will induce real change in every sector.” |
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Andrew Brown, CEO of the Church Commissioners for England
“As part of our commitment to the Paris Agreement, the Church Commissioners are pleased formally to state our commitment to transition our investment portfolio to net zero emissions by 2050. We urge all governments, investors and companies also to commit to net zero 2050 to address the climate emergency. Climate change is the challenge of our age. The 2020s are the decade in which we need to make decisive progress, both halting the growth in global GHG emissions and setting the world on course to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.” |
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Antoine Lissowski, CEO, CNP Assurances
“We are pleased to contribute, together with the other members of the Alliance and under the aegis of the United Nations, to this remarkable initiative to limit global warming and meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. We want to work with all French asset-owners to create a real dynamic and achieve carbon neutrality in our portfolios by 2050.” |
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Ole Krogh Petersen, CEO, Danica Pension
“Having long-term ambitions is a good thing but acting in a timely manner is even more important. That is why we significantly increased our investments in the green transformation in the first quarter this year, and we are going to develop individual milestones for our carbon footprint from our investments towards 2023, 2025 and 2030.” |
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Nili Gilbert, Trustee and Investor Committee Chairwoman, the David Rockefeller Fund
“The David Rockefeller Fund believes that it is critical for us — as a private, endowed family foundation committed to climate solutions — to align our investment portfolio with science-based targets for climate change mitigation. As the first foundation to join the Alliance, we hope to help pave the net-zero path for climate-concerned foundations to be aligned with the Paris Climate goals. As the third American asset owner to join the Alliance, we also hope to shine a light on climate-aware investing within our country.” |
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Laurent Galzy, CEO, ERAFP
“As an institutional investor, it is our responsibility to contribute to carbon neutrality by 2050. For that reason, for ERAFP, joining the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is no longer a challenge but a duty: it will be a question of leading the way by engaging with companies, in order to adjust their business models and, as a result, to align our portfolio more closely with our long-term commitments.” |
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Michael Kjeller, Executive Vice President and Head of Asset Management and Sustainability, Folksam Group
“The Folksam Group has worked with responsible investments for nearly 20 years and we were part of the investor group that founded the UN PRI. Our good experience of collaborative engagements and the clear commitment we have signed set high expectations on the outcome of the Alliance. We believe in active ownership and that an asset owner can make a difference in the needed transition towards a 1.5 degree world. I wish that we in 2050, at the latest, can look back and see that companies have made the climate transition we have been part in pushing and encouraging them to do.” |
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Yves Chevalier, Executive Director, FRR
“FRR is proud to be part of this asset owners’ initiative, which is aligned with our Responsible Investment Strategy. Given the urgency in climate issues, this strategy ushers in a new phase that will drive ambition further by increasing accountability at all portfolio levels and involving the entire financial management ecosystem to underline the leadership role assumed by the FRR over many years. Through this initiative, FRR will work with its peers in a realistic and efficient approach.” |
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Anja Mikus , CEO, KENFO
“KENFO is proud to become part of the alliance as the first sovereign fund. We believe that such a strong community will be an important contributor in aligning our finance industry and business environment with the goals of the Paris Agreement. As an institutional investor we need to understand the impact of the necessary transition towards a sustainable future on the economy. ” |
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Tim Ryan, Group Chief Investment Officer and CEO Asset & Wealth Management, Generali
“We are proud to be part of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. It is about walking the talk and further aligning our investment portfolio to our long-term commitments. As a financial services operator we feel the responsibility of contributing to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.” |
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Joachim Wenning , CEO, Munich Re
“We at Munich Re are committed to making our investment portfolio carbon-neutral by 2050. We are therefore expanding our climate strategy and taking a share of the responsibility.The world’s leading companies are setting the issue higher on their agendas, which is creating an opportunity for us to bundle our strengths in combating climate change.” |
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Katja Bergqvist, CEO Nordea Life & Pension
“Asset owners have an important role in the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. We strongly believe that such a transition requires clear commitments, joint industry efforts and full transparency. We have joined the alliance because it represents a strong platform for enabling this”. |
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Søren Kolbye Sørensen, CEO P+, Pension Fund for Academics “We believe that our commitment to the Asset Owner Alliance is a key milestone to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Our commitment is part of our new ambitious climate strategy, where we have defined specific actions in order to bring our portfolios on track to reduce emissions in line with the 2050 target.The target is clear, however there are still some challenges and complexities on how and to which path the goals of the Paris Agreement should be achieved. In this regard, we see the Net-Zero AOA as a unique platform to cooperate with other asset owners and together define targets and tools to drive the transition to a low-carbon economy and achieve real world impact, and we look forward to be part of it.” |
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Torben Möger Pedersen, CEO, PensionDanmark
“To achieve net-zero emissions in the real economy by 2050 we will need to enhance the impact we make ourselves as investors in new clean technologies, renewable energy infrastructure and sustainable buildings among others in order to provide realistic and feasible alternatives for the big CO2-emitters to change their businesses. Against this background the Alliance can act together as active owners and ask companies to transform their business models to comply with the Paris agreement and limit the temperature increase to 1.5C.” |
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Allan Polack, Group CEO, PFA
“With more than 1.3 million clients, PFA has a special obligation to contribute to sustainable development of our society. Therefore, we have been working with integrating responsibility and sustainability in our investments for several years, and we are now taking a further step by committing to making our investment portfolio carbon-neutral by 2050.” |
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Richard Pryce, QBE Interim Group CEO “Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires collective action and we’re pleased to be working with our peers through the Asset Owner Alliance to transition our investment portfolio to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.” |
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Denis Kessler, Chairman, CEO SCOR “SCOR is pleased to join the Alliance to promote the transition to a post-coal economy. As a Tier 1 global reinsurer, SCOR has a long-term commitment to the fight against climate change. Protecting people and property from disasters and encouraging sustainable development, particularly in a context of intensified climate risk and extreme events, are integral parts of the Group’s mission. By joining this initiative and implementing new measures to support the energy transition, SCOR is further strengthening its sustainable approach to investment, as set out in its ‘Quantum Leap’ strategic plan.” |
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Andrew Croft,CEO St. James’s Place Wealth Management “Making a climate commitment is imperative to help our clients achieve financial well-being in a world worth living in. Supporting the transition to a low carbon economy makes economic sense and, as responsible stewards of our clients’ assets, we must be proactively looking at the risks and opportunities posed by climate change. We are proud to be aligning our investment principles and engagement activities with the Alliance, helping accelerate the global transition to carbon neutrality.” |
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Odd Arild Grestad, CEO Storebrand “Our pensions, savings and investments are one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal to address the massive challenges raised by the IPCC Reports. We can no longer overlook the impact we all can have if we move our resources towards a clean energy future. The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is a great opportunity and a force for change. Sustainable investments are already generating good returns showing that a sound investment strategy is a win-win for people, planet and profit.” |
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Guido Fürer, Group Chief Investment Officer, Swiss Re
“As an early mover to integrate ESG across our investment portfolio, committing to a net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 is a great extension to our approach.” |
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Adam Philips, UN Office of Investment Management
“As a pension fund with long-term investment horizons and liabilities, UNJSPF is vulnerable to the financial impact resulting from both transition and physical risks caused by climate change. It is our fiduciary duty to protect the long-term financial interest of our beneficiaries.”
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Barbara Boigegrain, General Secretary and CEO, Wespath
“As the steward for the largest single pool of faith-based pension assets in the world, Wespath has a long history of investing in ways that deliver strong investment returns and pursuing efforts to promote building a sustainable economy. As a prudent fiduciary to our pension participants and institutional investors, we endeavor to align investment activities with efforts to achieve long-term, sustainable economic growth. By partnering with like-minded asset owners, we can collectively influence the development of stable financial markets, resilient companies and a healthier world for all of us. We are pleased to join the Net-Zero Alliance and formally state our ambitions.”
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Urban Angehrn, Group Chief Investment Officer, Zurich Insurance Group
“Our customers across the globe are facing the challenges associated with climate change already today. That is why we strongly believe that asset owners like Zurich must act now to tackle those challenges, in particular – by leveraging capital markets to fund solutions to the pressing environmental issues of our time. After signing earlier this year the UN Global Compact Business Ambition for 1.5°C pledge, we are delighted to join the Asset Owner Alliance, which is an important step in transitioning towards a low-carbon economy.” |