As a long-term investor, Keva wants to influence companies across the world to ensure that they make their operations more sustainable. The impact of influencing is twofold: it improves the return on investment and curbs climate change.
For Keva, responsible investing means carefully managing pension assets in the long term. The risks and opportunities associated with climate change are part of the assessment of potential investments in Keva, and many of Keva’s responsible investment targets are associated with climate change.
One of the key objectives is to increase influence. By working together, investors can bring about actual measures that can promote the objectives of the Paris Agreement in practice.
Global cooperation project
Keva has become a member of the largest group of investors working to stop climate change, the Institutional Investor Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), and has now also signed the global Climate Action 100+ initiative. The initiative aims to influence the world’s 100 largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters, which account for two thirds of annual global industrial emissions.
“Climate Action 100+ is globally the most significant investor cooperation project to combat climate change, and it has already achieved significant results. The decisions made by the target companies have a significant impact on the chances of achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Keva wants to be an active owner, and this project, which brings about concrete measures, is one of the important influencing channels for us,” says Keva’s Chief Investment Officer, Ari Huotari.
Concrete measures already taken
There are already 342 investors from dozens of countries, managing a total of more than USD 33,600 billion in assets, involved in the Climate Action 100+ initiative. By influencing the companies that they own, investors have managed to introduce measures to curb emissions from major polluters and improve the companies’ risk management.
In May, investors in the Climate Action 100+ group made a proposal to the Annual General Meeting of the oil company BP to align its business strategy with the Paris Agreement. The proposal received unprecedented support: 99 percent of BP shareholders voted in favour. After discussions with the investor group, the energy company Equinor announced in April that it would step up its efforts to mitigate climate change. Earlier, Shell announced that it would tie the pay of its 150 executives to the achievement of the company’s climate targets. These are concrete examples of how investor cooperation can deliver results in efforts for a more sustainable future.
“The objective of the Climate Action 100+ investors is that the boards of directors and senior management of the target companies take responsibility for climate change,” says Keva’s Head of Responsible Investment, Kirsi Keskitalo. According to Keskitalo, the companies are required to reduce both their own greenhouse gas emissions as well as those in their entire value chain. They are also required to report on the impact of different climate change scenarios on their business. “Reporting improves investors’ ability to assess the risks and opportunities of the investments,” says Keskitalo.
161 companies are currently targets of influencing, including companies in the oil and gas sector, energy production, transport as well as mining and metal industries. 35 percent of the companies are located in Europe, 33 percent in the USA and 20 percent in Asia.
Keva implements its responsible investment principle in the long term. Keva has been a member of the CDP since 2006. It signed the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in 2008 and is a founding member of Finsif, Finland’s Sustainable Investment Forum. Keva has also been a member of Green Building Council Finland since 2014.
Further information:
Ari Huotari, Chief Investment Officer, tel. +358 400 451 099
Kirsi Keskitalo, Head of Responsible Investment, tel. +358 40 730 6657
Read more about Keva’s Responsible Investment Beliefs
Keva’s responsible investment report describes responsible actions in 2018 (in Finnish)