Avon Pension Fund, the Local Government Pension Scheme serving Bristol, Bath, and surrounding areas, is stepping up its climate ambitions by bringing its net zero target forward to 2045.
The £5.4bn fund, which is part of the Brunel Pension Partnership pool, has previously set a 2050 net zero target but decided to step up its ambition on the back of significant progress in decarbonising its portfolio.
Among others, Avon has committed £400m to renewable infrastructure projects and invested more than £2bn in climate aligned equities.
Paul Crossley, Avon Pension Fund Committee's chair, said: “Climate change poses the biggest risk to our planet. There is no Planet B and we can all play our part in protecting Planet A. During 2023 we consulted extensively with local councillors, staff, employers, and trade unions. We also ran a member survey which received over 5,000 responses.”
“There was broad agreement among stakeholders that the Avon Pension Fund should set more ambitious climate goals and we are delighted to bring forward our net zero target to 2045, an ambitious but achievable date. We will keep this target under regular review and will seek to accelerate further as technology and government policy develop,” he added.
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Having met in December, the fund’s Pension Committee also decided to reduce its carbon emissions by 43% by 2025 and 69% by 2030.
Moreover, by the end of the decade, it aims to reduce the carbon intensity of its corporate bond portfolio by at least 60%. It has also decided on a new approach to investment in high carbon companies, which by 2030 must be aligning with net zero, otherwise the fund will divest from such companies.
Finally, the fund plans to explore opportunities in nature based investments such as forests, timber and agriculture in 2024.
