ESG spotlight: A roundup of the latest news on environmental, social and governance initiatives, including LGPS Central committing to net zero, and Pension Insurance Corporation investing in an urban regeneration project.
LGPS Central targets net zero by 2050
LGPS Central, which has around £49bn in assets under management on behalf of eight Local Government Pension Scheme partner funds, has committed to achieving net zero emissions across its internally and externally managed portfolios by 2050 or sooner. According to a statement, this commitment will provide additional focus and transparency to the pool’s response to the current climate emergency. “It will help frame our conversations with external managers and with our investee companies, reinforcing our expectations around climate risk management and establishing parameters around the decarbonisation of our investment portfolios,” the statement read. The pool will utilise the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change’s Net Zero Investment Framework to achieve this goal, focusing initially on listed equities, corporate bonds, sovereign bonds and real estate. Additionally, LGPS Central will have an interim target of achieving a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 across its equity and fixed income portfolios.
This article originally appeared on MandateWire.com
PIC invests in build-to-rent development
The £47.6bn Pension Insurance Corporation has completed a £130m investment in build-to-rent development Wirral Waters One, which is part of the UK’s largest urban regeneration project. WWO is the cornerstone residential scheme for the broader development of Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters, a 500-acre brownfield site and former dockland. The project will transform the site into a sustainable location for local and international businesses, creating more than 20,000 permanent jobs for the Liverpool City region, as well as offering new housing opportunities. Working in partnership with Peel L&P and Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, PIC is the sole investor for the development of a build-to-rent scheme, comprising 500 one and two-bedroom apartments, with an affordable housing component of 100 homes. Rents on the affordable units will be a maximum of 80 per cent of open market value, delivering significant social impact, PIC stated.
This article originally appeared on MandateWire.com
