Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has reduced the carbon emissions of its portfolios by 50% on 2019 levels, according to its new Net Zero Implementation Plan.
The plan outlines how Border to Coast will address the systemic risk of climate change, drive a reduction in real-world emissions and reduce its carbon footprint to net zero by 2050 or sooner. It is also aligned with the Paris Agreement and follows the Net Zero Investment Framework (NZIF) set by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.
Border to Coast is one of the eight Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) pools and is the representative of 11 partner funds with £60bn in total assets.
Rachel Elwell, Border to Coast’s CEO, told Room151: “There’s a huge amount of work still to be done. We’ve seen a 50% reduction in total carbon emissions over the last three years.
“Clearly, some of that is driven by things like Covid-19, but we’re using that as a starting position, and we need to continue to build on that.”
Border to Coast targets a 53% reduction in financed emissions across its portfolios by 2025 and a 66% reduction by 2030. The plan also highlighted that the pensions pool has set emission-reduction targets for 60% of its assets under management.
It suggested that targets will be achieved through engagement and that it planned to engage with 100% of portfolio companies by 2030.
Mark Lyon, Border to Coast’s deputy chief investment officer, said: “Driving real reductions in global carbon emissions will be key to combatting climate change and delivering the long-term investment outcomes our partner funds need. Strong and consistent engagement will help us achieve this.”
The LGPS pool estimated that £6.8bn of assets in the scope of the Net Zero Implementation Plan are invested in climate solutions with an additional £600m committed in private markets.
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