9 October 2018
Investor Agenda Launch Steps Up Action to Shift Trillions for Climate Change
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Nearly 400 investors with US$32 trillion in assets under management are taking action on climate change under the Investor Agenda, launched as part of the Principles for Responsible Investment in Person Conference and Global Climate Action Summit.

The Agenda calls on leaders to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, accelerate private sector investment into a low-carbon transition and commit to improving climate-related financial reporting.

12 September 2018: A group of partners launched an Investor Agenda enabling investors to report on the actions they are taking on climate change. Announced as part of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in Person Conference and Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS), the Investor Agenda is expected to enable investors to better manage climate risk and scale up their actions through the capture of new data.

The agenda focuses on four key areas: investment, corporate engagement, investor disclosure, and policy advocacy. Across these areas, the initiative aims to highlight climate actions and provide new ways for investors to report their actions and scale up their commitments. While action on the four focus areas is not mandatory, the Agenda addresses challenges such as lack of guidance and support to take action on low carbon investments, and amplifies voices calling for accelerated government implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Even if countries’ NDCs were fully met, there would still remain an ambition gap that leads to an unacceptably high temperature increase.

A statement signed by 345 investors laments that even if countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement were fully met, there would still remain an ambition gap that leads to an “unacceptably high temperature increase.” The statement calls on global leaders to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, accelerate private sector investment in a low-carbon transition and commit to improving climate-related financial reporting. In total, nearly 400 investors with US$32 trillion in assets under management have reported to the Agenda.

The statement and Agenda are backed by a briefing paper prepared by the seven founding partners. The paper expands on the statement’s three overarching requests, calling on governments to deliver through actions such as the strengthening of NDCs, putting a “meaningful price on carbon,” the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies, and requesting that international standard-setting bodies incorporate the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to normalize practices and provide a direction for national regulators.

The Investor Agenda is founded by seven partners: the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), Ceres, CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), Investor Group on Climate Change, PRI, and the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). A fact sheet outlines steps taken to date by individual investors in each of the Agenda’s four action areas. [Ceres Press Release] [2018 Global Investor Statement too Governments on Climate Change] [Briefing Paper on Investor Statement] [Investors Step up Climate Action Fact Sheet] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on GCAS Inspiring New Commitments]


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