Nordea Life & Pension meets climate targets and sets new ones for 2030

26-02-2025

At the end of 2024, Nordea Life and Pension (NLP) concluded its first target period with emission intensity reduced by 43% compared to 2019. More and more of NLP’s investee companies have started taking necessary actions – committing to as well as taking concrete steps towards achieving net-zero emissions.

“We’re committed to generating strong returns for our customers in a responsible way,” says Hans-Erik Lind, interim CEO of Nordea Life & Pension.

“Sustainability, including our net-zero commitment, is an integrated part of our investment process. It’s encouraging to see how asset managers who are managing assets on NLP’s behalf have developed their sustainability and climate strategies during the past few years and how new products are entering the market. Now we look forward to taking the next steps towards 2030 in a world in need of a higher pace of decarbonisation.”

In 2021, NLP committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. Key achievements by the end of 2024 included the following:

A 43% reduction of carbon intensity compared to the base year 2019: The decrease was achieved due to a mix of factors such as investee companies’ emission reductions and NLP’s decision to divest companies that extract fossil energy. In addition, asset allocations and market developments also played a role.
A growing share of assets in listed equities was invested in companies aligning with net zero targets: 51% was invested in companies that had already aligned or were in the process of aligning their businesses with net zero targets – 4% and 47%, respectively. Another 19% had committed to a net zero target, while the rest (30%) had not communicated such ambitions.
13% of investments in fixed income instruments were made in green bonds: These investments supported the climate and nature transition by directing capital towards activities and projects promoting environmental sustainability.
33% of assets in real estate directly owned by NLP were aligned with the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities. Greenhouse gas emissions per million dollar invested decreased by 43% compared to 2019.
The majority of asset managers selected by NLP supports our net-zero strategy: By the end of 2024, asset managers who managed a combined 99,6% of assets in scope were committed to achieve net-zero emission by 2050.

Sara Nordbrand, NLP’s Head of Sustainability and Responsible Investments.

“We’re proud to report on our achievements so far. However, the transition of economies and sectors is slow and societies are facing increasing challenges due to extreme weather events, loss of biodiversity, geopolitical tensions and polarisation."

"Given this context, we hope that everyone will take measures for the years to come that correspond to the severity of the situation. The world is turbulent but science is clear: drastic emission reductions in the near future are imperative in order to limit the long-term effects of climate change,” says Sara Nordbrand, NLP’s Head of Sustainability and Responsible Investments.

2030 targets adopted

NLP’s climate strategy for the years up to 2030 will include three new interim targets that combine further decarbonisation of the investment portfolio, engagement with investee companies to take actions towards net-zero alignment and investments in solutions and activities that need to be scaled up.

We will:

Continue reducing NLP’s carbon intensity, aiming for a 40-50% reduction by 2030 compared to 2019.
Engage with NLP’s top-30 emitters annually to motivate and push companies to decarbonise and align with net zero ambitions. The top-30 emitters typically represent about half of NLP’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Increase the share of investments that support nature and the climate transition by 20% by 2030 compared to 2023. This means that NLP will increasingly invest in companies that are taking necessary steps to align with net zero targets or providing solutions that are needed for the transition of economies and the protection of the ecosystems that these economies depend on.

The targets which were achieved in 2024 cover NLP in Finland, Norway and Sweden. For the 2030 targets, NLP in Denmark was added to the scope.

Facts about NLP

NLP is a Nordic provider of pension, saving and protection products with EUR 85bn in assets under management. We became a member of the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investments in 2014. In 2019 we were one of the co-founders of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA). As part of our NZAOA membership, NLP has committed to transition its investment portfolios to net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.

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