We are an international group of 33 institutional investors delivering on a bold commitment to transition our investment portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.
Representing $5.1 trillion assets under management, the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance shows united investor action to align portfolios with a 1.5°C scenario, addressing Article 2.1c of the Paris Agreement.
THE 2025 TARGET SETTING PROTOCOL
The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has published the Inaugural Target Setting Protocol after consultation on the October draft. The Protocol explicitly sets out how individual members will set a target, achievable in the next five years. Alliance members have used IPCC 1.5C no- and low- pathways to inform their targets under the Protocol, which carefully balances scientific ambition, active ownership engagement, and divestment constraints.
DRIVING DECARBONISATION IN SUPPORT OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH
Please watch our extended video Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance: Driving Decarbonisation in Support of Sustainable Economic Growth, with UNEP FI Head Eric Usher and PRI CEO Fiona Reynolds. Produced for the Climate Ambition Summit (12th December 2020), celebrating the Fifth Anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement, Eric and Fiona talk about the critical role asset owners play in decarbonising the global economy in support of sustainable growth through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
THE ALLIANCE COMMITMENT
Members of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance commit ourselves and will work to lead others to the highest ambition to date in driving sustainable economies. The Alliance announced its ambition at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in New York on September 23rd, 2019 in the form of the following commitment:
“The members of the Alliance commit to transitioning their investment portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 consistent with a maximum temperature rise of 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures, taking into account the best available scientific knowledge including the findings of the IPCC, and regularly reporting on progress, including establishing intermediate targets every five years in line with Paris Agreement Article 4.9.
In order to enable members to meet their fiduciary duty to manage risks and achieve target returns, this Commitment must be embedded in a holistic ESG approach, incorporating but not limited to, climate change, and must emphasize GHG emissions reduction outcomes in the real economy.
Members will seek to reach this Commitment, especially through advocating for, and engaging on, corporate and industry action, as well as public policies, for a low-carbon transition of economic sectors in line with science and under consideration of associated social impacts.
This Commitment is made in the expectation that governments will follow through on their own commitments to ensure the objectives of the Paris Agreement are met.”