Investment

UNEP FI works across the environmental, social and finance nexus with over 40 leading institutional investors and asset managers committed to considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues as part of their business principles, strategies and operations. With the historic adoption of the Paris Agreement and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNEP FI investment members are committed to help finance and achieve a sustainable and green economy and society.

The UNEP FI offering to members is guided by the Investment Committee. The Committee works with UNEP FI members to generate tools and research, and to promote more transparent and sustainable business and investment practices. It engages policymakers and regulators to identify and tackle regulatory barriers to sustainable investment.

UNEP FI Investment Committee

 

UNEP FI’s current projects with investors include:

U.N.-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance

The United Nations-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance consists of more than 40 institutional investors committed to transitioning their investment portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This joint effort by UNEP FI and the Principles for Responsible Investment shows united investor action in aligning portfolios with the 1. 5°C scenario, addressing Article 2.1c of the Paris Agreement.

Legal Framework for Impact

Launched in January 2019, A Legal Framework for Impact seeks to understand and analyse how investors can manage their fiduciary duty and sustainability impact duties as well as what happens if they are in conflict.

SDGs and Impact

The Positive Impact Finance Initiative seeks to address the SDGs financing gap, specifically addressing the lack of market clarity and the lack of business (supply of bankable assets).

Investor Agenda

The Investor Agenda brings together the UNEP Finance Initiative with six of its key strategic partners from around the globe to implement and promote actions that meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement and address the climate challenge.

Please check MENU ACTIVITIES to see a full list of projects

Past Programmes/Projects

Contact

Jes Andrews
Lead, Investment Practice
jesica.andrews@un.org

Investment News

20 October 2021

Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance members to cut portfolio emissions 25-30% by 2025

Less than two weeks away from COP26, the UN-Convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance launches its inaugural, biennial Progress Report, highlighting that 29 of its member investors have committed to reducing portfolio emissions by 25-30% by 2025 across three asset classes. This range is higher than the targets set by the inaugural Target Setting Protocol,…

15 October 2021

Japanese insurers join UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance; adding $1.4 trillion to AUM

Three Japanese insurance companies joined the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, adding a combined US$1.4 trillion to total assets under management (AUM) and total membership of 53. Japan’s Nippon Life, Sumitomo Life, and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance announced their membership, committing to net-zero portfolios by 2050 and establishing interim targets every five years in line…

30 September 2021

Swiss and French insurance associations become Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance supporters

The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance today welcomed the French and Swiss insurance associations as supporting partners. The Swiss Insurance Association (SIA) said in a statement that the long-term orientation of their members’ business models makes it virtually incumbent on insurers to help drive forward sustainability. In their investment policy in particular, the SIA’s member…

23 September 2021

Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance backs call to scale-up carbon removal from atmosphere

Asset owners must immediately scale investment into impactful carbon management and negative emissions technologies both inside and outside of value chains, according to a new position paper from the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. Following the recent special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Alliance recognizes that fostering rapid and deep…

16 August 2021

New report examines how real estate markets respond to physical impacts of climate risk

Geneva 16 August 2021 – A new report investigating the extent that real estate markets are pricing in risk from the physical impacts of climate change has been published today. In line with increasing investor and regulator requests for forward-looking analyses of assets and portfolios, the authors sought to better understand the variables that can…

21 July 2021

Major international legal report backs growing institutional investor focus on achieving positive sustainability impacts

New research provides a legal framework for institutional investors internationally as they seek to address key environmental and social sustainability challenges, and sets out the opportunities for policy reform 21 July, LONDON – Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Freshfields) has today released a new report, A Legal Framework for Impact, commissioned by The Generation Foundation, the United…

1 June 2021

UNEP FI and PRI launch joint programme to boost leadership in responsible investing

Geneva, Tuesday 1 June. The UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) are today launching a joint programme that will accelerate leadership in responsible investment. The Investment Leadership Programme (ILP) will bring together groups of responsible investors to work on initiatives that are considered ambitious, but not yet…

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Investment Events

20 October 2021 | Virtual

Net-Zero Future: Credible Ambition and Pioneering Solutions

Ahead of the G20 Summit and COP26, hear from some of the most important net-zero pioneers who are acting now to decarbonize their portfolios and speaking out about the imperatives, challenges, opportunities and feasibility of doing so.

22 January 2020 | 13.30 - 14.00 in the Media Village at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland

Press conference at WEF 2020: How are financial giants engaging with investee companies to catalyse shift to a net-zero-carbon economy?

Join us in Davos at the World Economic Forum 2020 for a media briefing via live link which will see the announcement of an important milestone in the development of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, as the sixteen members welcome another influential and well-known investor to their mission to decarbonize the economy. Find out how the Alliance will be engaging with the companies it is investing into to ensure their portfolios are net-zero carbon by 2050.

22 November 2019 | London, 15:00 GMT

Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century Final Report Launch – London

Join UNEP FI and the PRI for the London final report launch of the Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century programme on Friday, November 22, at 1500 GMT, hosted by The Generation Foundation. The Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century programme was launched in 2016 to end the debate on whether fiduciary duty is a legitimate barrier to the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in investment practice and decision-making. Over the past four years, the programme has produced extensive evidence on the subject and has advocated for global policy reform to clarify fiduciaries’ duties to their beneficiaries.

9 October 2019 | Tokyo, Japan

ESG Real Estate Investment Japan Seminar

UNEP Finance Initiative together with the Japanese Principles for Financial Action (PFA), a Japan nation-wide sustainable finance forum, held a seminar on ESG investments in real estate. Taking the opportunity of the visit to Japan by the UNEP FI’s Property Working Group Co-Chair Anna Murray, Vice President, Sustainable Investing, BentallGreenOak, the Working Group members in…

21 October 2019 | New York City, 3pm-5pm

Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century Final Report Launch, NYC

Join UNEP FI and the PRI to discuss the evolution to the modern interpretation of fiduciary duty, which includes the consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues - from a legal case to regulatory clarification.

17 October 2019 | Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 2pm-5pm

Sustainable Finance Policy Summit – DC

Join UNEP FI and the PRI along with senior policymakers, regulatory affairs professionals and investment professionals to discuss responsible investment policy reforms in the US and around the world.

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Investment Publications

Climate Risk and Commercial Property Values

This report provides real estate practitioners and investors support in understanding the physical risks arising from climate change with a specific focus on how these risks affect commercial real estate asset values and prices. It also offers recommendations for next steps by market actors, policy makers and researchers connected with commercial real estate to guide future cross-sector engagement and research.

A Legal Framework for Impact: sustainability impact in investor decision-making

The report, authored by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and commissioned by PRI, UNEP FI and The Generation Foundation, provides ground-breaking legal analysis on the extent to which legal frameworks enable investors to consider impact in their activities across 11 jurisdictions: the EU, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, South Africa, the Netherlands, UK and the US.

The Climate Risk Landscape: Mapping Climate-related Financial Risk Assessment Methodologies

The Climate Risk Landscape: Mapping Climate-related Financial Risk Assessment Methodologies provides a summary of the key developments across third party climate risk assessment providers since May 2019, including new and updated scenarios, methodological tools, key guidelines, as well as an overview of the changing regulatory landscape and potential developments into 2021. This report covers both…

Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century programme: Final Activity Report 2015-2019

This report summarises the research and outreach activities carried out under the Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century programme, convened by UNEP FI and the PRI, with the generous financial support of The Generation Foundation. The final report on Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century presents the conclusions of the 4-year research and detailed analysis…

Changing Course: Real Estate – TCFD pilot project report and investor guide to scenario-based climate risk assessment in Real Estate Portfolios

Twelve institutional investors from eight countries, convened by UNEP FI and supported by Carbon Delta, have worked throughout 2018–2019 to analyse, evaluate, and test, state-of-the- art methodologies to enable 1.5°C, 2°C, and 3°C scenario-based analysis of their direct property investment portfolios in line with the recommendations of the FSB’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures…

Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century Final Report

A new report from UNEP FI and the PRI launched in New York on Monday 21 October 2019 at an investor roundtable. This latest report, which affirms that fiduciary duty requires the incorporation of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes, is the final installment of the four-year Fiduciary Duty…

ESG data in China: recommendations for primary ESG indicators

    A new joint report by UNEP FI, PRI and SynTao Green Finance, launched in Shanghai on June 5, 2019, provides recommendations for China’s ESG disclosure framework, prepared by its financial regulators. This report is a follow-up from the Investor Duties and ESG Integration in China, and part of the Fiduciary Duty in the…

Changing Course: A comprehensive investor guide to scenario-based methods for climate risk assessment, in response to the TCFD

Twenty institutional investors from eleven countries, convened by UNEP FI and supported by Carbon Delta, have worked throughout 2018–2019 to analyse, evaluate, and test, state-of-the-art methodologies to enable 1.5°C, 2°C, and 3°C scenario-based analysis of their portfolios in line with the recommendations of the FSB’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The outputs and…

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