Investor Network on Climate Risk Year in Review 2015-2016

May 10, 2016
  • Description

2015 was a big year for climate change and other key ESG issues. In collaboration with ourinternational partners in the Global Investor Coalition on Climate Change, we brought investor voices, leadership and commitments to the Paris climate negotiations, which culminated in a historic global agreement. Our 2016 Investor Summit on Climate Risk, with record attendance and unprecedented participation by international investment leaders, confirmed that climate change is now a mainstream investment issue and that clean energy investment presents increasing opportunities. 2015 also saw the World Federation of Exchanges issue ESG reporting guidance to its member stock exchanges, huge progress on proxy access, the appointment of the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate Disclosure, important guidance from the U.S. Dept. of Labor on ESG issues and fiduciary duty, and the filing of a record number of shareholder proposals by INCR members on climate-related issues.

But we know that there is more work ahead. Climate change continues to accelerate, manyESG risks remain unaddressed, and our efforts in 2016 must confront these and other issues in the context of challenging global markets. With 120 members managing over $14 trillion, INCR is a powerful investor voice for sustainable business and investment practices and government policies. In the coming year we are looking forward to progress on multiple fronts, through our working groups, collaborations, advocacy and implementation of best practices.

Solving climate change, bridging the clean energy investment gap and building sustainablecapital markets requires the long-term commitment of leading institutional investors.