Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), one of the world’s largest asset managers, has announced the halt of investments in two Chinese transport giants, COSCO Shipping Holdings and Air China, due to their failure to meet LGIM standards on climate.
The two companies failed to meet basic climate risk targets, according to LGIM’s annual Climate Impact Pledge report.
As the window to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees narrows, LGIM has this year expanded the scope of the Climate Impact Pledge, holding more companies to account than ever before through voting and investment sanctions. It is now assessing 5,000+ companies across 20 climate critical sectors, a significant step forward from the circa 1,000 companies across 15 sectors in last year’s Climate Impact Pledge.
As a result of this expanded approach, UK’s investment company LGIM has identified 299 companies through its quantitative analysis that qualify for AGM voting sanctions for not meeting its minimum standards to address climate risk.
Michael Marks, Head of Investment Stewardship, Legal & General Investment Management, commented, “As the window for achieving a 1.5C outcome by 2050 narrows, the need for greater action by companies has become increasingly urgent. Companies which are too slow to act are contributing to systemic risk. It is imperative that investors play their part, by expanding and deepening the scope of their climate engagement, and encouraging companies to scale up their ambitions and reduce real world emissions.”
Michelle Scrimgeour, CEO of Legal & General Investment Management, stated, “There has never been a more important moment to address the generation-defining challenge of climate change. And yet, after a year of geopolitical and economic upheaval, global efforts to spur the energy transition are wavering. We believe policymakers, investors and industry leaders must use every legitimate tool at their disposal in order to mitigate the systemic risk posed by climate change. Every part of the global economy needs to adjust.”
