Money talks change is possible through partnerships
ladies and gentlemen
it’s evident change is needed
over the last 50 years we lost over
two-thirds of the world
wildlife population one million species
are at risk of extinction
in 2019 we saw a record in
carbon emissions
i would share a story why i believe
change
is possible and also share my story on
my journey as an investor and asset
manager
25 years ago
the understanding and need for change
was not widely recognized it was a
selected group
of investors and ngos that were talking
about
sustainable investments back then
there was only one stakeholder and that
was
the shareholder today few believe
that there is only one stakeholder today
most people recognize that companies
depend on society
and they need to care about their impact
on society
there is multiple stakeholders
25 years ago we started divesting
from companies with a negative impact on
society
increasingly we invested in companies
with solutions
solutions to the climate change
solutions to other global challenges
today i’m going to speak more about the
companies in the middle
it’s in the middle we find most
companies it’s where most of the capital
invested and they need to change
and we as investors we engage with these
companies
in order to help them build a better
strategy
for tomorrow five years ago
we had the paris agreement
five years ago we had the sustainable
development goals
they are a very useful framework in
order to understand
what we mean by sustainable development
this extreme better events and progress
of science
have helped more people realize why the
climate
risk is one of the greatest risks facing
humanity today
and the companies in the middle they
need to change
and our experience is that if we work
together
as investors we can create
a better impact and have a better
dialogue working in alliances like the
climate action hundred plus
we bring about change together with the
companies
if we look at coal companies investments
in coal are being discarded the cost of
capital for coal companies has increased
oil companies are really assessing
climate risk
in their portfolios
oil and gas companies are increasingly
investing in
renewables there is a massive shift of
capital
into the green economy money talks
change is possible
so investors and corporates are working
together
in building companies fit for tomorrow
but a sustainable company fit for
tomorrow
also need sustainable rules and
regulations and that’s why we also
depend
on governments governments of course
contributes to and set the rules and
regulations
they are also in many cases important
investors and capital owners
and it’s the cooperation between
investors
companies and governments
it’s in that corporation we really can
create
change i’ll share with you two recent
examples
the first one is on deforestation
we have been working on deforestation
for several years
this summer we together with a set of
other institutional investors
sent a letter to the brazilian
government highlighting the fact that
increased deforestation put our
investments at risk
the response was overwhelming there is
now a dialogue with the brazilian
government
congress and central bank brazilian
companies have raised their voice
making the same claims vis-a-vis their
own government
and other investors are joining this
initiative
so money talks change is possible
the other example is our climate
strategy
yes it builds on scientific consensus
we tighten the standard of high emitters
we increase investments in solutions but
one of the elements i wanted to refer to
is lobbying clearly lobbying against
climate change is not cooperation
we want to avoid companies that lobby
against regulation
on climate what have we seen
more companies are now reviewing their
lobbying activities
more investors are looking at how they
can incorporate
lobbying a lot of capital is shifting
into
green solutions money talks
solutions are there change is possible
clearly solutions and engagement is
important to us
but for us sharing our experience
is also very important we strongly
believe
that sharing and being transparent
will help us create change faster
and we will be more profitable
if we do so so i hope our work
can serve as an inspiration money talks
change is possible