Investor Groups Joining Forces to Divulge Climate-Related Lobbying
A Brief Summary
Institutional investor groups working to address climate change are uniting to promote a global standard for companies to disclose climate-related lobbying activity. The Global Standard on Responsible Climate Lobbying initiative was recently launched by investors with a combined $130 trillion in assets.
The 14-point standard was developed as a result of an industry-wide consultation led by the 722.5 billion Swedish kronor ($74.1 billion) Swedish pension fund AP7, BNP Paribas, and Church of England Pensions Board, with input from the Principles for Responsible Investment, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, Ceres, the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, and the Investor Group on Climate Change.
Clare Richards, senior engagement manager church of England Pensions Board said in an interview: "Investors have been calling for it for years. It's about how do we build on what has gone before. We are looking forward to getting this out there and being embedded by both companies and investors as they assess their climate impacts and strategies."
Two public consultations in 19 countries drew more than 220 replies from institutional investors, businesses, and others.
Investors want to know if firms are delaying, diluting, or preventing climate action, but they also want to know about climate-friendly activities, according to Ms Richards. "The idea is to shift the expectation away from do-no-harm and toward how you can be supportive."
Investors may have varied priorities when it comes to their climate expectations for firms, such as Scope 3 emissions disclosure, but "at the core of all of this is the regulatory environment, so focus on climate lobbying must be at the heart of it," Ms Richards said.
InfluenceMap, a lobbying think tank, contributed to the standard and will be releasing many industry-specific benchmarks over the next six months to evaluate how corporations respond.
