NILGOSC is an active supporter of the 2015 Paris Agreement and has been taking action to mitigate climate risk since publishing its first Climate Risk Statement in 2008.
As a global investor, NILGOSC recognises climate risk is a key investment risk, and as a long-term investor, NILGOSC recognises that a changing climate presents significant long-term risks to the value and security of pension scheme investments and capital markets more broadly.
As well as risks, the changing climate can also present opportunities for pension fund investors. Investment practices should therefore seek to protect assets from climate risks such as weather events and regulatory change, while simultaneously seizing the new opportunities that a low-carbon economy presents.
NILGOSC has developed a Climate Risk Statement to sit alongside the Statement of Responsible Investment. It acknowledges the importance of climate risk as an investment issue and sets out the steps which will be taken to address it.
NILGOSC’s approach includes: working with others to engage with governments and companies; engaging with the Fund’s investment managers to monitor how climate change risk is being taken into account when making investment decisions; as well as, continuing to increase holdings in low-carbon transition sectors, such as wind and solar, energy-from-waste, and public transport, amongst others. NILGOSC is also a supporter of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, partaking in initiatives to encourage governments and companies to report against TCFD recommendations, as well as annually reporting itself, in NILGOSC’s Climate-related Disclosures Report 2024.
NILGOSC prepared a briefing note for members on how it is responding to climate change, and also put together a short video providing an overview of our approach.