‘3 Things’ shares 3 highlights of the week related to the work we do here at the EIRIS Foundation
1. Helping individuals drive the change to a more sustainable economy: this week the EIRIS Foundation hosted a roundtable discussion to bring together a number of organisations and initiatives involved in the retail ethical finance space. The conversation focused on the most effective ways in which individuals can drive and create change through their choice of financial products, their influence over the entities they invest in directly and the ways in which they can influence their service providers and organisations they work for and/or support. Are there other ways individuals can effectively drive change? What needs to happen for this sort of change to be impactful? Are current product offerings sufficiently transformative? We explored these questions and others and hope to do more in this area going forward. Further details coming soon, please email [email protected] to be kept up-to-date.
2. Church of England Pension Board invests £600 million in global new stock index backing the Paris Climate Agreement: The development of the Index has been an important project of the Church of England Pensions Board over the past 18 months as it seeks to integrate the insights of the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) into its passive investments.
The Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) is a global initiative led by asset owners and supported by asset managers. Aimed at investors and free to use, the TPI assess how individual companies are positioning themselves for the transition to a low-carbon economy through a public, transparent online tool. The TPI is backed by 62 funds with over US $18 trillion of combined assets under management or assets under advice. Further details: https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/church-england-pension-board-invests-ps600-million-global-new-stock-index
3. Brunel Pension Partnership, one of eight pooled Local Government Pension Scheme funds across the UK, has set out a groundbreaking new approach to managing climate-related financial risk. Its new climate policy, published today, commits Brunel to using its influence to challenge the asset manager industry, which it describes as “not fit for purpose” for addressing climate change.
Brunel’s new policy – ‘A five-point plan to build a financial system which is fit for a carbon-zero future’ – builds on insights gained in the course of procuring new asset managers for its 10 LGPS clients. Brunel engaged 130 asset managers and reviewed 530 investment strategies from a climate perspective. For more information: https://www.brunelpensionpartnership.org/2020/01/27/30bn-pension-partnership-calls-finance-sector-not-fit-for-purpose-for-addressing-climate-change/
If you would like to share some news or information that could be included in a future ‘3 Things’ post please email [email protected].