Today marks the conclusion of the signatory review period for the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM) commitment statement. As the deadline passes, Nordea Asset Management, with €286bn under management, says it will remain a signatory of the alliance.
A spokesperson told Net Zero Investor that after careful consideration of the NZAM statement, Nordea has decided to stay on.
“Our own firm-level and Group commitments remain unchanged, and we fully intend to remain a NZAM signatory”, the spokesperson confirmed.
Nordea’s view, the spokesperson said, was that the revised commitment statement is pragmatic and ‘acknowledges the realities” faced by managers.
“We recognise the statement as a pragmatic recalibration with the aim to preserve a broad, global signatory base”, the spokesperson added.
Over the past few weeks, asset managers have had the opportunity to review their membership of the alliance – which had released a new commitment statement in October last year. Notably, the revised statement scrapped a long-held requirement for members to commit to a 2050 ambition for net zero.
NZAM+
Yesterday, another asset manager – Royal London Asset Management – reaffirmed its membership of NZAM.
RLAM’s statement acknowledged that NZAM has entered a new phase – one characterised by individual managers pursuing climate commitments on a more individual and voluntary basis whilst remaining NZAM signatories.
NZAM+, as RLAM refers to it. Nordea holds a similar view.
“As ambition levels will naturally diverge across signatories under the revised framework, we also recognise that voluntary, more granular disclosures will become increasingly important for demonstrating accountability and alignment with climate goals”, the spokesperson told Net Zero Investor.
UNPRI, which convenes NZAM, is also preparing for its new phase. A spokesperson for PRI told Net Zero Investor that NZAM is expected to resume activities by the end of February.
Commenting on next steps, the spokesperson said, in the weeks following, NZAM will progress through its relaunch process, including updating signatory information on the website and resuming regular activities, with activities expected to resume by the end of February”.
