The pension fund of South Africa's energy giant Eskom is to join the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA).
According to the NZAOA, Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF) maintains a broad view of responsible investing, by both promoting transformation through its private and listed markets development programme and by supporting ESG best practices.
Of the accession to the NZAOA, Shafeeq Abrahams, chief executive of the EPPF, said: “Being part of this alliance means we will have access to the necessary networks of support and it hardwires our commitment to address the climate change challenges within a context of a just transition.”
The UN-convened NZAOA is an initiative of institutional investors committed to transitioning their investment portfolios to net-zero by 2050.
Controversy
Parent company Eskom has faced controversy with allegations of corruption, the South African energy grid facing rolling blackouts known as “load shedding”, and more than 70% of the country’s energy derived from coal and less than 5% from renewables.
The announcement puts the EPPF as just one of four asset owners on the African continent to join the NZAOA, alongside fellow South African funds ARC and Old Mutual Limited, and the Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Gabonese Republic.
Earlier this month the Church of England Pensions Board left the NZAOA, due to thematic overlap with other climate alliances.
