NN Investment Partners has said it is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 for its corporate and sovereign bond portfolios.
NN IP reports that 37% (EUR 110 billion) of its total assets will be managed in line with reaching net zero in 2050 or sooner, by the end of this year. The scope includes assets managed in equity, corporate fixed income and sovereign bond portfolios. For the corporate investment portfolio, a 25% CO2 reduction reference target by 2025 and a 45% reduction target by 2030 has been set.
Adrie Heinsbroek, Chief Sustainability Officer, NN Investment Partners: “We believe we have a key role to play in financing the transition towards a net zero emissions economy, in which we strive to achieve impact and reduce emissions in the real world. There’s not one solution to contribute to achieving the goals set out by the Paris Agreement. We put capital to work to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and engage with corporates and sovereign issuers on the importance of managing climate-related risks and taking action to transition to a low-carbon economy. This way, we can drive real change.”
NN IP says it has taken the following actions to contribute to the transition to a low carbon world and will continue to build on this:
• Integrating climate change in investment processes, by using their materiality framework, corporate and sovereign indicators and by measuring the carbon footprint of their funds
• Lowering thresholds for restrictions on companies that derive their revenues from thermal coal mining and oil sands extraction from 30% to 20%
• Incentivizing investee companies to stimulate the transition to a low-carbon economy by using active ownership to foster change
• Actively using their voting rights: in 2021 NN IP supported 80% of climate-related shareholder proposals of which 75% of these votes on those proposals were against management
• Development of an escalation strategy with specific escalation tactics for their climate and palm oil related engagements, to maximize the effectiveness of their engagement efforts
• Publication of an annual Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) report as of 2022.