By signing the 2021 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis we’re standing together with our peers to make our voice heard.
The initiative is spearheaded by the Investor Agenda, an organisation that brings together the efforts of several groups that work with investors. They’re working hard to provide the best investor guidance on tackling the climate crisis and advocate collectively for public policy to accelerate the net-zero transition.
Andy Steel, chief executive of James Hambro & Partners said, “We’re proud to add our name to this initiative. As well as reflecting the concerns of our clients, it embodies the urgency we feel as an organisation and as individuals to combat the climate crisis.”
JH&P’s lead on responsible investing and ESG, Sarah Goose, said, “We’ve been increasing our engagement with companies we invest in on climate issues, and we were keen to get involved with this initiative. As well as being good in and of itself, managing climate risk is becoming an increasingly vital component in creating stable and sustainable investment returns for our clients.”
You can find out more about how we manage environmental risks in our funds and portfolios here
The letter outlines five key proposals that signatories ask governments to consider at the COP26 proceedings. They are.
1. Strengthen their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2030 before COP26, to align with limiting warming to 1.5-degrees Celsius and ensuring a planned transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.
2. Commit to a domestic mid-century, net-zero emissions target and outline a pathway with ambitious interim targets including clear decarbonization roadmaps for each carbon-in-tensive sector.
3. Implement domestic policies to deliver these targets, incentivise private investments in zero-emissions solutions and ensure ambitious pre-2030 action through: robust carbon pricing, the removal of fossil fuel subsidies by set deadlines, the phase out of thermal coal-based electricity generation by set deadlines in line with credible 1.5-degrees Celsius temperature pathways, the avoidance of new carbon-intensive infrastructure (e.g. no new coal power plants) and the development of just transition plans for affected workers and communities.
4. Ensure COVID-19 economic recovery plans support the transition to net-zero emissions and enhance resilience. This includes facilitating investment in zero-emissions energy and transport infrastructure, avoiding public investment in new carbon-intensive infrastructure and requiring carbon-intensive companies that receive government support to enact climate change transition plans consistent with the Paris Agreement.
5. Commit to implementing mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, ensuring comprehensive disclosures that are consistent, comparable, and decision-useful.