North West pension funds join £95bn climate change commitment

Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Merseyside Pension Fund joined forces with a collective of Nordic and UK pension funds to agree to spend $130bn, or £95.4bn, in clean energy and climate investments by 2030.

The announcement was made at COP26 by the Climate Investment Coalition. The pension groups said that they would annually report on the climate investments as well.

“These ambitious pension funds are taking critical steps to ensure pensions take advantage of the enormous opportunities of the green transition, help spur immediate solutions to lower carbon emissions, while protecting our savings against the ravages of climate change,” said Peter Damgaard Jensen, co-chair of the Climate Investment Coalition.

“As we look ahead beyond COP26, we aim to grow these financial commitments, raising investor ambition to create a far-reaching impact by 2030.”

The Prime Minister of Denmark, H.E. Mette Frederiksen, voiced his support for the pension funds push for sustainability.

“Green transition requires massive investments,” he said. “Governments have to do their part and commit to a new green future. But we also need private investors on board. In 2019, Danish pension funds committed to invest 55 billion dollars in the green transition by 2030. I am proud that we have inspired others and that Nordic and UK pension funds are now.”

As part of the agreement, the pension funds will make investments in green energy infrastructure, green bonds and debt, climate-friendly investments in properties, and both listed and unlisted equity investments.

The full list of pension funds that committed to the deal is as follows:

• Almenni Pension Fund
• ATP
• Bank Employees’ Pension Fund
• The Pension Fund for Reykjavík City Employees
• Birta Pension Fund
• Brú Pension Fund
• Environment Agency Pension Fund
• Festa Pension Fund
• Frjálsi Pension Fund
• Gildi Pension Fun
• Greater Manchester Pension Fund
• Ilmarinen
• KLP
• Lifsverk Pension Fund
• Lív Group
• LSR – Icelandic Pension Fund for State Employees
• Merseyside Pension Fund
• Nest Pensio
• Pension Fund of Commerce
• Skandia
• SL The General Pension Fund
• SPP
• Stapi Pension Fund
• Storebrand Group
• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company