Nordic Council of Ministers Meeting Discuss Collaboration on Green Investment Mobilisation

The Climate Investment Coalition (CIC) took a first important step on its 2020 roadmap at the Nordic Council’s Climate and Environment Ministers Meeting today, when the Danish Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities chaired a Roundtable discussion between Nordic governments and institutional investors on climate investment mobilisation in the coming years. Focus for the discussion was not only on how to solve the climate crisis but also how institutional investors can contribute to the recovery of pandemic affected economies in a climate-friendly way. 

“The political response to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic must reap the synergies between job creation and climate action. Huge amounts of money will be mobilised to boost our economies, and we must seize that as an opportunity to tip the scales from black to green. Institutional investors will play a key role in making the recovery a green one,” says Dan Jørgensen, Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities in Denmark.

“Financial commitments from institutional investors are required to fund the transition to a net-zero economy in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Given the current pandemic and its impact on economies globally, these investments can now have even more impact. It is important to also see green investments as a key approach to help stimulate and regenerate the economy”, says Chairman of IIGCC, Peter Damgaard Jensen.

In 2019, the Danish Pension Funds committed USD 50 billion to be invested in the energy transition and climate mitigation, and to be applied with the required framework conditions from 2020 to 2030. This commitment was made through a public-private partnership between the Danish Government and Insurance & Pension Denmark and led to the establishment of the Climate Investment Coalition.

“The Danish insurance and pension industry support the Paris Agreement to keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celcius, preferably 1.5 degrees. Institutional investors can play an important role in the green transition by financing green investments, given suitable framework conditions. Through the activities of the Climate Investment Coalition, the Danish pension industry will share its experiences in good green investment practices and framework conditions to promote the green transition internationally,” says Deputy Chief Executive at Insurance & Pension Denmark, Jan V. Hansen.

Nordic pension funds are ready to follow suit in committing to increased climate investments over the next years. Nordic pension funds are among the largest in Europe, and participating in the Nordic Roundtable were Norwegian pension fund Storebrand, Swedish pension fund AP4 and Finnish pension fund Varma.

“The Covid-19 pandemic constitutes an enormous challenge for humanity and economic activity, but it will also in the next phase create an opportunity for politicians, regulators, investors and corporates to jointly address climate change and the transition to a sustainable world. Initiatives to implement a relevant system for global pricing of carbon emissions would be an extremely strong tool in this endeavour”, says Niklas Ekvall, CEO of AP4.

“Varma's goal is that by 2025, one fifth of the investment portfolio will consist of investees that either directly or indirectly mitigate the advancement of climate change. This means focussing on companies and investees that have low emissions, provide solutions for reducing emissions, and promote the use of renewable energy or offer carbon sinks,” says Hanna Kaskela, Director, Responsible Investment at Varma.

"Before COVID 19 the trend on sustainable investments was strong. COVID 19 has demonstrated the impact of a crisis that knows no boundaries. Whilst the S in ESG is likely to be increasingly important in the recovery, the climate changes are still pressing risks and opportunities. COVID 19 has also demonstrated the power of acting together; corporates, governments, and consumers. Capital will play an important role in the recovery we need. Working together works. Partnership is the new leadership", says Jan Erik Saugestad, CEO Storebrand Asset Management.

Information on the Climate Investment Coalition

Climate Investment Coalition mobilises financial commitments from institutional investors towards green investments and shares best practice business models and enabling framework conditions to stimulate global climate action towards 2030.

The Nordic Roundtable was a part of the Climate Investment Coalition’s roadmap to COP26, which includes a key steppingstone, the Climate Investment Summit, in Copenhagen later this year. This Summit will aim to catalyse private investments in the energy transition, highlight best practice business models and framework conditions, and promote green economic strategies for a post-pandemic economic recovery.

Climate Investment Coalition and Climate Investment Summit websites were also launched today. Through these websites you can find more information on key announcements by CIC, information on upcoming events in 2020 and currently collected best practice business examples, including investments towards clean energy infrastructure and investments into green bonds.

Partners behind the Climate Investment Coalition are the Government of Denmark, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), Insurance & Pension Denmark and World Climate Foundation.