Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance

Allianz is proud to have helped set up the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, which was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Summit in September 2019. 

The Alliance is committed to tackling global warming and reducing the carbon emissions of their investment portfolios to net-zero by 2050. By doing this, they aim to help limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial times.

The group consists of the world’s largest pension funds and insurers who are responsible for directing more than 2.4 trillion US dollars in investments. They are also joined by the Finance Initiative of United Nations Environment (UNEP FI), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), WWF as well as the Mission 2020 campaign.

Allianz has already committed to fulfil the Paris Agreement in our investment portfolios but we feel the Alliance will start to engage with the companies in which we’re investing to ensure they decarbonise their business models and affect real change.

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                - Oliver Bäte, Allianz’s CEO

What do the Alliance want to achieve by 2050?

Allianz, and the other Alliance members, want to achieve carbon-neutral investment portfolios by 2050.

The Alliance chose the year 2050 as the long-term target because it represents the current scientific consensus on when net-zero emissions need to be reached to limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to preindustrial times. 

What will the Alliance do?

Allianz and the other asset owners will begin to take action immediately, including engaging with portfolio companies. Asset owners will set intermediary targets for the target years 2025, 2030 and onwards to ensure that their portfolios decarbonise in a timely and gradual manner.

Over the next 3 years we will also:

1. Carry out and disclose portfolio baseline assessments

2. Develop climate strategies and action plans, including trajectories

3. Disclosure of first quantitative joint Alliance report (to be paired with first global stocktake of the UNFCCC under Paris Agreement Article 14.2) by December 2023.

Alliance members are already working together to define best practice to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by engaging with portfolio companies and with governments on public policies. Through engaging with portfolio companies, GHG emission reductions in the real economy can be achieved, as compared to divestments which might only lead to emission reductions in asset owners’ portfolios, not in the real economy. 

More information

The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance Brochure 1 MB
The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance: Commitment Document 595 KB

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