PensionDanmark says ambitious goals, clear mandates and mandatory requirements are necessary to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, along with common frameworks – which it said benefited pension savings into the bargain.
The pension fund, which had DKK327bn (€43.9bn) in assets at the end of 2021, said the UN Biodiversity Conference, COP15 currently taking place in Montreal was “a unique opportunity for the world’s state leaders to create the foundation for protecting and rebuilding biodiversity”.
Torben Möger Pedersen, chief executive officer of the Copenhagen-based pensions firm, said: “We hope that the countries of the world will agree on ambitious objectives that set the direction for the future financing of nature-based solutions and to reverse the loss of nature.”
He said PensionDanmark believed companies taking responsibility for creating positive change had the best conditions for creating long-term returns.
“Therefore, initiatives that create the framework for better biodiversity will also be good news for our members’ pension savings,” he said.
PensionDanmark said it launched a biodiversity strategy earlier this year for urban areas and new construction, which was to make a positive contribution to biodiversity by 2030 at the latest.
The pension fund also said biodiversity was an increasing focus in its dialogue with the companies, in which it said particular attention was paid to getting companies with a big dependence or impact on nature to report on this and use the upcoming reporting framework from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
PensionDanmark said it had joined the international “Finance for Biodiversity Pledge” and signed declarations from the UNEP Finance Initiative and Business for Nature in connection with the Vancouver event.
By signing the joint declarations, the Danish pension fund said it was encouraging the adoption of ambitious biodiversity targets, including the idea of “nature positive”, which was to become the new standard.
As well as this, the blue-collar pension fund was advocating a clear political mandate to be given to require the financial sector to align its activities to the adopted biodiversity targets, and it was also backing changes to make it mandatory for large companies and financial institutions to report on their impact and dependence on nature.
PensionDanmark said that by signing up to the collective calls for action, it was also backing the recognition of TNFD as a risk management tool and reporting framework for nature-related matters.
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