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

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…

27 May 2021

Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance adds 5 new members managing $900 billion

The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance announced the addition of five new members managing nearly one trillion US dollars of assets between them. UK-based joiners include the country’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, Phoenix Group, the country’s largest life insurer, L&G Group, and Rothesay, the UK’s largest pensions insurance specialist. Germany’s largest pension group…

20 May 2021

New ICAP framework drives investor action on climate crisis, accelerating transition to net-zero

The founding partners of The Investor Agenda released today a new tool to enable institutional investors to step up action to tackle the climate crisis and accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy. The Investor Climate Action Plans (ICAPs) Expectations Ladder and Guidance provides investors with clear expectations for issuing and implementing comprehensive climate action…

14 May 2021

The ASCOR Project: Assessing Sovereign Climate-related Opportunities and Risks

Asset owners, BT Pension Scheme and the Church of England Pensions Board, alongside the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA), the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (Ceres), the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) are, supported by Chronos Sustainability, joining forces to create…

7 January 2021

Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance: Statement on the need for a fully developed IEA 1.5°C scenario

As members of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AoA), we welcome and commend important advancements in the recently-released 2020 World Energy Outlook – in particular, the first-ever inclusion of a net zero by 2050 case to supplement the Sustainable Development Scenario. To help enable a rapid and smooth global transition to net zero emissions by 2050 it is vital that this scenario is expanded into a more robust, comprehensive and central scenario in next year’s iteration of the WEO.

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Investment Events

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

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…

Global ESG Real Estate Investment Survey Results

In late 2018, a global survey was conducted to better understand how the attitudes, strategies, and practices of real estate investors, and fund and asset managers are incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria, and the degree to which they may need to strengthen their commitments so that their portfolios are aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. More than…

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