LSE Sustainable Leadership Series: How far will investors go to play a role in securing a safer future?

How far will investors go to play a role in securing a safer future?

What the examples above show is that investors can set a demanding agenda, that they can expect to be heard and that they can expect companies to act. If these actions are to be effective, investors need to be ambitious, demanding and focused on the key levers of change. We recognise that there are challenges – short time horizons, misaligned incentives within the investment industry, and lack of strong incentives for companies to act, to name but a few. But it is possible for motivated investors to overcome these barriers.

There is no question that investors have the power to drive change, the question is are we are truly willing to deploy it to the benefit of many millions of pension fund beneficiaries and of wider society? If we are, then we have a chance to play our historical role in the interests of both our beneficiaries and the children currently marching for their future.

Adam C.T. Matthews is Director of Ethics and Engagement at The Church of England Pensions Board, Co-Chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), and a board member of IIGCC.

Dr Rory Sullivan is Co-Founder and Director of Chronos Sustainability, Chief Technical Advisor to the Transition Pathway Initiative and Visiting Professor at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the LSE.

Management Quality and Carbon Performance of Energy Companies: September 2019 (PDF) is available from the Transition Pathway.