Pension funds across the world are increasingly integrating sustainability criteria into their investment strategy and processes. The uptake has been particularly strong in Europe with investment volumes more than doubling over the past five years and with a volume of €6.7tn (£5.8tn), close to 50% of all professionally managed assets in Europe.
One of the largest and most established sustainable investors is the Norwegian Government Pension Fund with an investment volume of £463bn. Its strategy centres on applying strict environmental and ethical exclusion criteria based on international norms such as the UN Global Compact and OECD guidelines to all its investments. The fund pursues an active shareholder policy and gets involved with the management of companies on governance issues.
The leading French public pension fund, the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites with assets of €36.6bn, and CalPERS, the largest US pension plan with assets of close to $250bn (£160bn), both incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in their investment processes and follow an active shareholder approach focusing on governance issues. Moreover, CalPERS is a long-time, established leader in sustainable, energy-efficient or "green" real estate.
