ECB to take further steps to integrate climate change in monetary policy

The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), the largest UK pension scheme with 9 million savers, was one of the country’s first private sector pension funds to commit to a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target.

Its policy, announced in 2020, aims to align Nest with the Paris Agreement goals to keep global temperature rises within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. The master trust’s goal is to be net-zero across its investments by 2050 or earlier and expects carbon emissions in its portfolio to halve by 2030.

Many pension schemes and corporates have now adopted net-zero targets, but Nest’s deputy chief investment officer Elizabeth Fernando is concerned that it has “almost become fashionable” to set a net-zero target.