Stuart Breyer’s Post

Thanks for this Mark Hill. We don't have time to let these risks play out and not do anything about them. There is still a lot of work to do to find practical ways in which pension schemes of all sizes can influence and manage their climate, nature and social risks and the more of us that tackle this with a solutions mindset the better. I, for one, am doing what I can in 2024! #esginvesting #biodiversity #impactinvesting #transitionplanning

LACERA's pension fund hired Meketa to assess climate change risks. The analysis showed a 15% potential decline in net asset value under a "best-case" scenario, highlighting the financial impact for pension funds. Snehal Shah Toby Mitchenall #NPM #PrivateMarkets #Climate #Decarbonization #FinancialReturns #Investors #NorthAmerica

As per Reuters the top investor in ESG and "Green" are European pension funds... https://lnkd.in/dcbcVH9v Considering the fact that most of the ESG is driven by regulations and not by a real economical need .... I wonder would that succeed and what would be the potential negative effect on the already "stressed" EU pension insurance system?

The UK continues to work towards net zero, driven not only by tightening legislation but by the urgent need to prevent catastrophic climate and environmental damage.   Next month, Ian Thomas, managing director at Turquoise, will join Pensions for Purpose for an online roundtable to explore how the UK is influential in developing technologies to reduce global emissions, helping transition CO₂-intensive industries, and achieving real-world decarbonisation.   The roundtable will examine the significant gap in growth capital within the UK and discuss the compelling investment opportunities in being part of the transition. Join us on 15 October at 09:30-10:30 BST and take part in this conversation on shaping a sustainable future. Register here: https://ow.ly/Ozy150T25Mc   #PensionsforPurpose #NetZeroUK #ClimateAction

Calstrs is only one of the many #institutionalinvestors and #assetowners to be tripped up by #Carbon #Footprint based on the #FCE (The #Financed #Carbon #Emissions) calculations, which provide a mechanism for attributing the overall #GHG emissions of a company "financed" by the investor - the issue is the undue reliance on the share price values or #enterprisevalue including cash (#EVIC) as a means of ownership and attribution of #emissions (and other #esg attributes). As emission figures provided might be as of a different date (or reporting period) from the (generally Year end) calculation of ownership, market volatility can cause material differences in results. And this is just public corporates, #privateequity, #privatedebt, #infrastructure and #realasset investments have even bigger issues in terms of availability of #climate and #ESG #metrics. A standardised regulatory approach (from the #SEC, #FCA, #ESMA and other regulators) for such #emissions/esg disclosures for public and private companies (and #sovereigns), would greatly help in reducing uncertainty and errors in #assetmanager and #assetowner ESG disclosures. #TCFD #SFDR #USESG #sustainability Pico Analytics Emily Robinson Kate Martin

European investor demand for ESG investments remains steady, resisting the anti-ESG pushback seen in the United States. Fund flow in Europe remains strong with European investors having seven times more capital in sustainable fund assets than US investors. Such investment strength can be attributed to the stronger regulatory framework in Europe -- including 20 rules and 25 voluntary ESG guidelines in the EU versus the two rules and five voluntary guidelines in the U.S. (according to an analysis by ESG Book). Additionally, EU public pension funds continue to drive investor demand for sustainable investments – with 73% of European pensions saying climate change is an investment priority compared with 53% of US pensions.  https://lnkd.in/eNhzwuf6

By agreeing a Responsible Investment Policy and framework together with our partners. we achieve levarage across all our key collective functions - investment and reporting!

Investing in fossil fuels carries substantial financial risks for clients and the economy. 📉 Research uncovers pension funds' reliance on flawed models, jeopardizing returns while disregarding climate risks. Pension funds must acknowledge that addressing climate risk is integral to fiduciary duty. We can chart a course toward a more sustainable financial future by adopting net-zero transitions, refining climate modeling, and leveraging influence. Discover how fiduciary duty intersects with climate consciousness: https://lnkd.in/eTQzcaBN

🌿 Calstrs' Carbon Crunch: The Case for Standardized Timestamping 🌿 Calstrs, the California Teachers Retirement Fund, overseeing a $331 billion portfolio, has delayed its 2023 climate report to 2025 due to significant data inconsistencies in their carbon calculations. This highlights a pivotal challenge across the finance sector: the critical need for standardized, reliable emissions data. 🕒 A key challenge? Standardized timestamping. Aligning data reporting times can prevent the mismatches that skewed Calstrs’ carbon figures, ensuring more accurate sustainability assessments. 🌐 Without reliable data timestamps, the transparency needed to make the carbon economy credible will remain on shaky ground. 💡 How can standardized practices enhance transparency and trust in environmental reporting? https://lnkd.in/e_hab_wC

Measuring how much climate harm financial institutions enable This is a great read from Josephine Cumbo on how experts eg. at John Greenwood 's Corporate Adviser are scrutinising the actual performance of financial institutions on how much climate harm they finance. As we said in our report 'The Devil is in the policy detail', we need hard foundational data on the carbon footprint in portfolios to allow for truly objective, independent ratings. https://lnkd.in/erxdR6rs That is the only real way to assess financial institutional behaviours including progress against targets. The current approach is dominated by narrative reporting on transition plans and 'stewardship' and subjective assessments. This just allows financial institutions to deflect attention away from their actual performance now. Ratings agencies are unregulated and reference benchmarks use inconsistent which means firms can shop around for 'validation'. Worryingly, the FCA's sustainable investment label regime will not enable objective ratings of investment managers' performance. It is a voluntary regime and for those funds that do use a label it is to all intents and purposes a self-regulatory system. The FCA's regime actually risks providing 'official' validation of greenwashing. See: https://lnkd.in/ectcqVNU #ESG #climatefinance #financialregulation #greenwashing