Nordic pension fund representatives have made a statement at the COP27 climate meeting taking place in Egypt that they intend to speed up climate investment in emerging markets and developing economies.
The Climate Investment Coalition (CIC) said today that in collaboration with the Nordic Council of Ministers, it was presenting “key investor recommendations to bridge the climate finance and investment gap by 2030 towards emerging markets and developing economies”.
The CIC was created in 2019 by the Danish pensions sector and government and expanded in 2021 to include a long list of pension funds from other Nordic countries as well as the UK.
The coalition said that despite financial challenges and a volatile economic environment, the first wave of pension fund reporting in 2022 showed Nordic pension funds were still on track reach their target of $130bn climate investments by 2030.
“This is also the case for investments in emerging markets and developing economies, where new investments in climate solutions have continued to increase,” the body said.
It said the total, collective reporting of annual investments was expected to be announced in the first quarter of 2023, but lobby group Insurance & Pension Denmark (IPD) reported today that Danish pension funds had invested $9bn in new clean energy investments since July 2021.
That showed the pension funds were on track and well over halfway to reaching their 2019 commitment to invest DKK350bn 2030, according to the announcement from COP27.
Peter Damgaard Jensen, CIC’s co-chair, said the collective commitment of $130bn sent an important signal to other investors, policymakers and businesses “that finance is ready and available to support the net-zero transition”.
“Despite the numerous challenges of 2022, CIC investors are on track to reach their climate investment targets, including within emerging markets,” he said.
“But more must be done, faster; practical steps, such as finance vehicles, frameworks and partnerships will accelerate climate investments to flow to emerging markets, to ensure we support climate resilient development,” Damgaard Jensen said.
In order to help bridge the climate finance and investment gap by 2030, the CIC and its Nordic pension fund members said they would will try to mobilise new and increased financial commitments for climate investments by 2030.
“To make this happen, the CIC and its members will collaborate with international organisations, development finance institutions and governments to build strategic public-private partnerships and multilateral climate finance models aiming to accelerate climate investments in emerging markets and developing economies,” the CIC said.
The declaration was made alongside an overview of Nordic pension fund progress within climate and clean energy investments in 2022, according to CIC.
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