University pension scheme lays out climate targets but comes under fire for lack of ambition
The UK universities’ pension scheme has set a series of new carbon reduction targets to reduce emissions in its investments portfolio, as pressure grows on pension funds to decarbonise their investment strategies.
The £82bn Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the UK’s largest private pension fund, will now measure the carbon intensity of its portfolio against a 2019 benchmark, the Financial Times first reported.
Bill Galvin, USS group chief executive told the FT: “The targets are a statement of intent and give us important staging posts against which to measure our progress.”
But the fund has come under fire from a group of campaigners for stopping short of reducing its absolute emissions, as it expects its assets to grow in the coming year.
Ethics for USS, a group of academics that are pushing for the pension fund to decarbonise, said it needs to go further in its action.
“USS should be targeting cuts in absolute carbon emissions,” said Paul Kinnersley, emeritus professor at Cardiff university and a member of Ethics for USS.
The move from USS comes as pressure mounts on pension providers, which control around £2.6trillion in assets, to decarbonise their investment portfolios.
Scottish Widows became the first major pensions provider to lay out plans for net zero portfolio investments this month with an action plan that requires it to halve its emissions by 2030.
The firm said it would also pump £20-25bn into “climate aware investment strategies’, and exclude high carbon investments from its portfolio.