18 September 2014: Nearly 350 global institutional investors, responsible for managing over US$24 trillion in assets, released a statement ahead of the UN Climate Change Summit, urging Heads of State to take strong action on climate change. In the Global Investor Statement on Climate Change, investors call on governments to: set a stable and reliable price on carbon that helps redirect investment commensurate with the scale of the climate challenge; develop plans to phase out fossil fuel subsidies; and agree on an ambitious climate deal in 2015.

In the Statement, the investors emphasize that delaying climate action and clean energy policies will: increase investment risks due to climate change impacts; and lead to more radical policy measures to reduce emissions in the future.

Several signatories of the statement are expected to announce significant individual commitments at the UN Climate Summit, scheduled to take place on 23 September 2014. The statement was coordinated by the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) in collaboration with its Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Ceres’ Investor Network on Climate Risk in the US, the European Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, the Investors Group on Climate Change in Australia and New Zealand, and the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner underlined that an unprecedented level of investment must be channeled into a low-carbon economy. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an additional US$1 trillion per year must be invested in clean energy by 2050 to limit temperature rise to below 2°C. Such investment was just US$254 billion in 2013.

Along with the statement, the investor groups published a report, titled ‘Financial Institutions Taking Action on Climate Change,’ which provides examples of actions investors are taking in support of a low carbon, climate resilient economy, including direct low carbon investments, the creation of low carbon funds, and reducing exposure to fossil fuel and carbon intensive companies. Both the report and the statement with be presented at the UN Climate Summit, taking place on 23 September 2014, in New York, US.

In addition, the investor groups have launched a public online database of low-carbon investment made by asset owners, such as pension funds and insurance companies. The Low Carbon Investment Registry identifies how institutional investors are directing capital towards low-carbon assets. [2014 Global Investor Statement and Report Website] [UNEP Press Release] [Global Investor Statement on Climate Change] [IISD RS Coverage of the UN Climate Summit]