In the run-up to the COP26 Summit in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021, the most consequential United Nations climate change conference in years, and on the heels of another urgent warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a record number of 587 investors are urging governments to act swiftly to support investment in solutions to the climate crisis.
As a member of this community of investors, UBP agrees that strong policies, in line with limiting global warming to no more than 1.5-degrees Celsius, can accelerate and scale up private capital flows towards the net-zero transition. Transition away from carbon-intensive activities can create significant investment opportunities in clean technologies, green infrastructure and generate jobs and economic growth.
To make sure these opportunities are fully realized, the signatories call on all governments to undertake five priority actions in 2021:
- Strengthen their NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) for 2030 before COP26, to align with limiting warming to 1.5-degrees Celsius and ensuring a planned transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.
- Commit to a domestic mid-century, net-zero emissions target and outline a pathway with ambitious interim targets including clear decarbonization roadmaps for each carbon-intensive sector.
- Implement domestic policies to deliver these targets, incentivise private investments in zero-emissions solutions and ensure ambitious pre-2030 action through: robust carbon pricing, removal of fossil fuel subsidies by set deadlines, phase out of thermal coal-based electricity generation, avoidance of new carbon-intensive infrastructure, development of just transition plans for affected workers and communities.
- Ensure COVID-19 economic recovery plans support the transition to net-zero emissions and enhance resilience.
- Commit to implementing mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
The statement has been developed by The Investor Agenda. The Investor Agenda provides a common leadership agenda on climate change that is unifying, comprehensive, and focused on accelerating investor action for a net-zero emissions economy. The founding partners of the Investor Agenda are seven major groups working with investors: Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), CDP, Ceres, Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI).
Signatories to date of the Global Investor Statement include some of the largest institutional investors, asset managers and asset owners in the world. They collectively manage USD 46 trillion, representing an estimated 40% of all global assets under management. This is the largest collective assets under management to sign on to a global investor statement to governments on climate change since the first statement in 2009.