Representing over $7 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.
Media Contacts:
- Oliver Wagg, Communications Lead for the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance
- Sally Wootton, Communications Lead for UNEP Finance Initiative
Latest News & Press Releases
23 September 2021
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance backs call to scale-up carbon removal from atmosphere
Geneva, 23 September 2021: 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…
9 August 2021
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance: Investors, companies and governments must act definitively after IPCC AR6
As we learned today from the IPCC, climate-related risks – for our planet and our communities – are increasing faster than expected, as the current trajectory in global carbon emissions is rapidly exceeding our estimated carbon budget. The delay for global action and fast transition of the economy is getting us farther from our objective of…
6 July 2021
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance argues for binding carbon-price corridor
Today’s global carbon-pricing landscape can and should be transformed in a matter of years and pave the way for 1.5ºC-aligned emissions regulation, according to a new discussion paper from the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, convened by the UN. Alliance members are committed to leveraging their portfolios to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and…
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…
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…
21 April 2021
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance more than triples membership to 37 since 2019 launch
21 April 2021 – The United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance today announces a tripling in membership from its launch at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in September 2019, with 37 members now committing to set and report on interim targets towards net-zero portfolio emisisons by 2050. Alliance members Wespath and the David…
15 April 2021
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance’s new tool for asset manager engagement on climate-related proxy voting
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has today released a new resource designed to help asset owners set expectations for, evaluate, and engage with asset managers on their climate-related proxy voting activities. The document, Elevating Climate Diligence on Proxy Voting Approaches: A Foundation for Asset Owner Engagement of Asset Managers, outlines a set of principles…
12 March 2021
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance publishes tender for Digital Map for Climate Solutions
A core focus area of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is Financing the Transition. To address this, the Alliance has a dedicated working group focused on identifying priority investment segments to scale up climate solution investments and technologies for tomorrow in OECD and non-OECD markets. Through this, the Alliance aims to develop and publish…
11 March 2021
German insurance association GDV partners with Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance welcomes Germany’s insurance industry association GDV as a supporting partner – the first insurance industry association to become a supporter of the Alliance. GDV will be in a strong position to support better science and knowledge in measuring climate change impacts on business activities. Chair of the Net-Zero Asset…
5 March 2021
Dai-ichi Life Insurance is first Asian member of Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company joins the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, to become the first member based Asia. With assets under management (AUM) of $379 billion, Dai-ichi becomes the 35th member of the fast-growing Alliance, which has total AUM of $5.6 trillion. By joining the Alliance, the company commits to reducing greenhouse gas…
16 February 2021
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance calls on asset managers to support blended finance
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has issued a call to asset managers to collaborate in driving the development of blended finance vehicles, with the aim of drastically ramping up investment in climate solutions. One working area of the Alliance is focused on financing transition of the real economy, which focuses on identifying priority investment…
11 February 2021
UN Secretary General calls Asset Owner Alliance the ‘gold standard for net-zero commitments
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on investors who move much of the world’s money to set increasingly ambitious targets and adopt specific plans for achieving net-zero carbon emissions. “The private sector has a crucial role to play in building a more equitable and sustainable world. Our simple objective for 2021 is to make sure…
13 January 2021
Asset owners set and commit to report on 2025 targets to support 2050 net-zero emissions
The UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance publishes the final Inaugural 2025 Target Setting Protocol, as individual members begin setting their own 2025 decarbonization targets, to ensure a transition to net-zero emissions by 2050.
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.
10 December 2020
One Earth Climate Model plots possible course for real economy to meet Paris 1.5 °C scenario
COP26 Champions welcome study as enabling rapid net-zero transition Geneva, 10 December 2020 – Based on the 2019 One Earth Climate Model (OECM) by the Institute for Sustainable Futures at University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sectoral Pathways to Net Zero maps out possible 1.5 °C pathways for five key high-emitting sectors: energy, utilities, materials in…
18 November 2020
U.N.-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance adds members managing combined $200 billion assets
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
U.N.-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance publishes Thermal Coal Position
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
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance sets unprecedented 5-year portfolio decarbonization targets
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
UK’s largest company pension BT Pension Scheme is 30th Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance member
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
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance – Sustainable Investment Forum North America
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
Cbus is first Australian member of UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
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 David Rockefeller Fund joins the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
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 &…
15 July 2020
UN-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance Position paper on the coronavirus recovery
In the recovery from the global coronavirus pandemic, government spending and recovery packages will play a pivotal role in underpinning economies, jobs and people’s livelihoods. These measures, already in the trillions of dollars, need not only to be effective in restarting the economy, but also in creating a sustainable economy of the future
10 July 2020
UN Joint Staff Pension Fund joins Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
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
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance: Statement on the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive consultation
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
Denmark’s Danica Pension joins UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
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
Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance adds Denmark’s MP Pension
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…
29 May 2020
UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance reacts to European Commission’s COVID-19 recovery plan
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
France’s SCOR joins UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
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 $4.6 trillion. Launched in September 2019 during the UN Climate Action Summit, the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA) is an international initiative bringing together…
11 May 2020
Denmark’s PFA Pension joins the UN-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
11th May 2020 – Danish pension fund PFA has become the 23rd member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing the total assets under management (AUM) to over US$ 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…
28 April 2020
Call for Comment on carbon neutrality
Calls for comments (and related evidence) allow interested parties including data and service providers, non-governmental organizations, academia, and the general public, to express their views, and support the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (Alliance) efforts to advance the stateof-play with respect to Net-Zero (Paris-aligned) Portfolio Target Setting by increasing methodology and data robustness, strength and transparency, and related efforts to measure members portfolio interactions with emissions.
22 April 2020
Post-Covid recovery packages must quicken the pace to net-zero carbon emissions
The devastating impact of Covid-19 is becoming clearer each day, with governments taking unprecedented steps to save lives and livelihoods. As stewards of people’s capital, long-term asset owners are fully aligned with these priorities.
27 March 2020
Statement from the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance on the coronavirus pandemic
We are not putting climate action on pause The coronavirus pandemic has hit the world with full force. We are facing a global crisis that no-one could have imagined – one that is foremost a health crisis but with wide-reaching implications for the global economy and environment. Bringing climate action to a halt could be…
20 March 2020
Wespath joins the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
7th April 2020 – Wespath Benefits and Investments , the largest single pool of faith-based pension assets in the world, has become the 22nd member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. The new member, with US$26 billion assets under management (AUM), brings the Alliance’s total AUM to over US$4.6 trillion. Wespath is the second US-based…
9 March 2020
KENFO is the first sovereign wealth fund to join UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
9th March 2020 – German sovereign wealth fund KENFO has become the 21st member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing the total assets under management (AUM) to approximately US $ 4.6 trillion. By joining the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, KENFO has committed to transitioning its investment portfolio to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by…
5 March 2020
ERAFP joins UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance
5th March 2020 – French civil servant pensions fund ERAFP (Établissement de retraite additionnelle de la fonction publique) has become the 20th asset owner to join the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing the Alliance’s total assets under management (AUM) to over US$ 4.5 trillion. By joining the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, an initiative co-convened…
17 February 2020
Munich Re joins Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance bringing collective AUM of group to US$ 4.5 trillion
14 February 2020 – Munich Re has become the 19th asset owner to join the United Nations-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, bringing the Alliance’s total assets under management (AUM) to US$4.5 trillion. The group of pension funds and insurers have pledged to decarbonize their portfolios to net-zero emissions by 2050 to avoid a global temperature…
14 February 2020
Günther Thallinger, Allianz CIO and Chair of Asset Owner Alliance reacts to BP’s announcement
Günther Thallinger, Allianz CIO and Chair of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, reacts to BP’s announcement: “We welcome BP‘s announcement to reduce its carbon emission by 2050. This ambition is a step towards achieving the objective of our Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance commitment. It is a significant statement and we expect it will encourage…
22 January 2020
Generali and the Church of England bring total AUM to $4.3 trillion
22 January 2019 – Four months after 12 of the world’s largest pension funds and insurers committed to decarbonize their investments by 2050, the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has added the Church of England’s three national investment bodies and Italian insurance group Generali. The new additions bring the total assets managed by Alliance members to over US$4.3 trillion.
27 November 2019
4 new members join the Alliance: AXA, Aviva, CNP and FRR bringing total AUM to US$ 3.9 trillion.
Geneva, 27 November 2019 - AXA, Aviva, CNP Assurances and Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) announced today they are joining the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, raising total assets under management targeting carbon neutrality by 2050 to more than $3.9 trillion.
23 September 2019
Net-zero Asset Owner Alliance launches at Climate Action Summit in New York.
New York, 23 September, 2019 – In one of the boldest actions yet by the world’s largest investors to decarbonize the global economy, an alliance of the world’s largest pension funds and insurers – responsible for directing more than US$ 2.4 trillion in investments – has today committed to carbon-neutral investment portfolios by 2050.