Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, one of the eight Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pools, has committed £8.3bn in climate solutions to date, according to its latest Climate Change Report.
The report, published today (3 August), provides an update on the progress made by the pooling vehicle against its Net Zero Implementation Plan. It outlined that £6.9bn of Border to Coast’s equity and fixed income assets are in investments aiming to reduce carbon emissions, while its climate-focused investments have increased from £600m in 2022 to £1.4bn as of March 2023.
In addition, the Climate Change Report confirmed that Border to Coast, which has direct responsibility for £40.3bn of assets, has £8.3bn of investments in climate solutions.
Joe McDonnell, Border to Coast’s chief investment officer, said: “While climate change creates risks to both society and investors, there are also investment opportunities related to the transition to a net zero economy. This will require new business models, new companies and new infrastructure, which represent potentially attractive investments.”
The report also revealed that Border to Coast’s financed emissions have fallen by 47% compared to its 2019 baseline and that the pool is on target for its goal of a 53% reduction by 2025.
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Active stewardship and engagement
Border to Coast has also published its Responsible Investment and Stewardship Report today, which showed that during the last financial year (ended 31 March 2023), the pool has conducted over 1,800 engagements with companies and voted on 13,000 resolutions at 970 company meetings.
The report also detailed that Border to Coast voted against 93% of company transition plans and voted to support 73% of climate-related shareholder proposals.
Jane Firth, Border to Coast’s head of responsible investment, said: “Our report shows that we put our words into deeds when it comes to the engagement, collaboration and voting that underpin the active stewardship of our partner funds’ capital, as a long-term and responsible investor.
“These are powerful tools for influencing company behaviour, and we are committed to using them to send a strong message to improve standards in both the investment industry and the companies in which we invest for our partner funds.”
The release of the two reports comes as Border to Coast last week announced that it was planning to launch a new UK opportunities strategy that will invest in private markets opportunities, which include venture and growth. The pool stated that the scheme will target areas such as corporate financing, infrastructure and renewables.
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