Partnership between United Nations Environment and the global financial sector to promote sustainable finance
18 November 2020
The United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has added three new members with combined assets under management (AUM) of $200 billion, committing to transition their investment portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Announced at the 19th November Race to Zero Dialogues Finance Day, the new members are: Denmark’s P+, Pension Fund for Academics;…
6 November 2020
Members of the 30-strong UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance have published their position on thermal coal, calling for the cancellation of all new thermal coal projects, a phase-out of all unabated existing coal-fired electricity generation and a cessation of the financing, development and planning of further thermal coal power plants. In its Thermal Coal Position,…
13 October 2020
Thirty of the world’s largest investors with $5 trillion assets under management have collectively agreed on concrete portfolio decarbonization targets that follow the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1.5 °C scenario for the next five years. UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance members will implement deep greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions in the 16% to 29%…
7 October 2020
BT Pension Scheme (BT PS), the UK’s largest company pension scheme, today becomes the thirtieth member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing total assets under management to $5 trillion. The announcement came as BT PS said it has committed to an ambitious new goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1-3 emissions*)…
25 September 2020
UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance kicks off Sustainable Investment Forum North America Members of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance and its Chair, Guenther Thallinger, launched the virtual Sustainable Investment Forum North America (SIF NA) – a collaboration between UNEP FI and Climate Action. The largest climate finance event during New York Climate Week –…
31 August 2020
Australian building and construction industry pension fund Cbus has announced its membership of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. The fund is the first Australian asset owner to join the Alliance, bringing membership to 29 managing nearly US$5 trillion in assets. “Cbus recognizes that to decarbonize the global economy in line with the Paris Agreement…
3 August 2020
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance welcomes the David Rockefeller Fund to its membership. The Fund becomes the 28th member of the Alliance, which now has combined assets under management (AUM) of nearly $5 trillion. The Alliance was launched by 12 members with AUM of $2.4 trillion in September 2019. Nili Gilbert, David Rockefeller Fund Trustee &…
14 July 2020
In July 2020, the European Commission closed its stakeholder consultation on its Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy, which will be adopted by year-end. The Commission’s proposal recognizes that the scale of investment necessary for a timely, just and sustainable transition goes beyond the capacity of the public sector and needs to include the private sector as…
13 July 2020
In collaboration with The Generation Foundation and the Principles for Responsible Investment, UNEP FI recently launched the project A Legal Framework for Impact, which aims to make the consideration of sustainability impact in investor decision making a core part of investment activity within the decade. In this episode of the PRI podcast, and the second…
10 July 2020
The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) has joined the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, becoming the 27th member. The Office of Investment Management said in a statement: “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…
19 June 2020
The UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA), representing $4.75 trillion in assets and many of Europe’s largest pension funds and insurance companies, warmly welcomes the review of the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). AOA members have publicly committed at the CEO level to transitioning their investment portfolios to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.…
18 June 2020
Danica Pension becomes the 26th member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA), committing to transitioning its investment portfolio of $68 billion assets under management (AUM) to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. CEO Ole Krogh Petersen said: “As a pension company, our more than DKK 400 billion ($60 billion) assets under management can…
4 June 2020
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA) has more than doubled its membership since its September 2019 launch to 25, with Denmark’s MP Pension announcing its membership today, World Environment Day. MP Pension, with assets under management (AUM) of $18.7 billion, brings the AOA’s total AUM to nearly $4.7 trillion. Jens Munch Holst, CEO at…
3 June 2020
There is growing momentum to ensure the recovery from the global pandemic shifts the economy to a more sustainable model and enables the transition to a circular economy post-2020. In their blog, Jan Raes, a circular economy finance expert who drafted our study Demystifying Circular Economy Finance, supported by Aliyorbek Muminov in UNEP FI’s Secretariat,…
29 May 2020
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has reacted to European Commission’s COVID-19 recovery plan. “As some of Europe’s largest asset owners, we welcome the European Commission’s recovery plan, which seeks to uphold the Paris Agreement and puts the EU Green Deal at the heart of the recovery planning. These plans will help lay the foundations…
27 May 2020
Paris-based Tier 1 reinsurer SCOR announced today (27 May 2020) it had joined the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing membership to 24 with combined assets under management (AUM) of over $4.6 trillion. Launched in September 2019 during the UN Climate Action Summit, the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA) is an international initiative bringing together…
11 May 2020
11 May 2020 In collaboration with The Generation Foundation and the Principles for Responsible Investment, UNEP FI recently launched the project A Legal Framework for Impact, which aims to make the consideration of sustainability impact in investor decision making a core part of investment activity within the decade. This next frontier in responsible investing is…
11 May 2020
11th May 2020 – Danish pension fund PFA has become the 23rd member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing the total assets under management (AUM) to over US$ 4.6 trillion. By joining the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, an initiative co-convened by PRI and UNEP FI, PFA has committed to transitioning its investment portfolio to net-zero…
6 May 2020
The UNEP FI Property Working Group (PWG) convened virtually for two discussion forums to share information on how institutions are managing the public health and economic crisis from COVID-19, and thoughts on how institutions need to plan and operate for a post-crisis recovery. There is strong consensus that institutions with deeply ingrained approaches to integrating…
2 April 2020
2 April 2020 – UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s (UNEP FI) Positive Impact Initiative (PII) has launched two new tools for corporates, banks and investors to work together and step up their capacity to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With millions of people affected in their daily lives across the globe by the…