Church of England puts pressure on miners, PIC invests in student halls

Church of England demands tailings standards from miners

The £3.5bn Church of England Pensions Board will vote against the chairs of investee company boards that have not confirmed their intention to implement a new industry standard on tailings dams. A third of companies that operate these waste facilities have either pledged to implement the new Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, or are assessing aligning with it. The standard was published on the third anniversary of the Brumadinho dam disaster in Brazil, which killed 270 people when a mine waste facility collapsed at a Vale mine site. Companies that have expressed their support for the standard include Rio Tinto, BHP and Glencore, while 183 companies have yet to confirm if they will implement it, including ArcelorMittal and Grupo México.

PIC helps University of Birmingham to upgrade halls

The £47.6bn Pension Insurance Corporation has completed a £128m secured debt investment into the University of Birmingham, enabling it to transform its Pritchatts Park student village accommodation site into a 1,230-room, low-carbon residential facility. The low-carbon design of the upgraded accommodation will be achieved using solar photovoltaic panels wherever possible, along with direct electric heating. Additionally, the upgraded buildings will improve air quality through a zero-carbon emissions strategy. The investment is inflation-linked and is PIC’s first investment linked to the consumer price index in the sector. The proceeds will be used to finance refurbishment of existing estate, construction of new rooms and their operations. The deal uses a deferred drawdown structure where the debt will be drawn down over three tranches during the construction period. The debt will mature in 2069, matching PIC’s liabilities.

This article originally appeared on Mandatewire.com

Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance to halve portfolio emissions by 2030

A new protocol agreed with the 69 institutional investors that form the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance will bind them to halve their portfolio emissions by 2030. The investors, which include Allianz, Aviva and Swiss Re, will be required to reduce their portfolio emissions within a range of 49 per cent to 65 per cent by 2030, from a 2020 baseline, as part of an initiative to keep global warming to 1.5C. The protocol has added carbon-intensive infrastructure debt and equity to its list of target asset classes spanning listed equity, publicly traded corporate bonds and real estate assets. It has also doubled the number of high-emitting sectors it covers to 14, now including chemicals, concrete and agriculture.