Institutional Investors Call for Clear Carbon Policy

The Asia Investor Group on Climate Change has added its name to a grouping of institutional investors, with over $22.5 trillion in managed assets, calling for governments around the world to change climate change policy.

An open letter from AIGCC, Investor Network on Climate Risk, the European Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, the Investors Group on Climate Change in Australia and New Zealand, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the Advisory Council of the Principles for Responsible Investment calls for:

• Clear, predictable policies that encourage low-carbon investment
• Knowledge-sharing between governments on effective climate and clean energy policies, building on existing national and regional measures
• Stronger international agreements that send "clear market signals" about the future of climate policy and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the consortium, the re-election of President Obama, the leadership transition in China and the upcoming gathering of policy makers in Doha for the UN climate change conference provide an opportunity for investors and governments to begin a new dialogue on climate change and to advance the ambitious policies necessary to substantially reduce emissions and mitigate their potential impact.

AIGCC was formed in 2011 by the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia with support from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office and financial institutions across the region, and, as such, was not a signatory of a similar letter released that year by the consortium. The 2011 letter was released at the start of the UNEP FI Washington D.C. Global Roundtable, a two-day summit at which an assembly of CEOs and former heads of government planned to call for “a profound reform of the global financial system,” according to UNEP.