Aktia took a step closer to carbon-neutral portfolios by joining international emissions initiative
As part of the recent climate strategy, Aktia has joined the international initiative Net Zero Asset Managers. The initiative in support of emission restrictions has become a standard in asset management and offers even more concrete tools for Aktia's ambitious sustainability work.
The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative was launched in December 2020 with the aim of meeting the target of the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. The initiative encourages its members to set a goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
Markus Lindqvist, Director, Sustainability at Aktia, started in his position in June and attaches great importance to Aktia’s membership in the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative: “The diversity of Aktia’s investment offering poses challenges to forming our own emission framework. The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative is establishing itself as a standard in the field. As a member of this high-level international initiative, we will be able to use ready-made targets based on best practices to help us strengthen our own climate strategy.”
Aktia's climate strategy applies to wealth management, Aktia’s own investments, lending and the company's own activities. The new membership in the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative supports Aktia's goal of a carbon-neutral investment portfolio by 2050. When it comes to Aktia Group’s own activities, the goal is to achieve carbon neutrality, among other things, in the energy consumption of rented premises by 2030.
Aktia’s persistent climate work has produced concrete results along the way. After joining the public support group of TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) in the spring, the company published its first TCFD review. Aktia has also entered class B in the CDP comparison (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project). During the beginning of the year, the carbon footprint of Aktia’s direct equity funds has been on average 56% smaller than that of the reference market.
On Monday, 1 November 2021, the first follow-up report of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative was published and it describes the progress made by the 43 companies with the longest participation in the initiative. At the same time, Aktia’s and 91 other asset managers’ joining of the initiative was announced. The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative now covers over USD 57 trillion in investment funds through its 220 members. The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative is managed by its founding organisations in the field of responsible investment: Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), CDP, Ceres, Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
More information: www.netzeroassetmanagers.org.