Nordea speaker when asset owners met with the UN Secretary-General on new climate commitments

On 26 January representatives from the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance met UN Secretary-General António Guterres to discuss new initiatives and targets for the transition to net zero emissions. 

Nordea Life & Pensions is one of the founders of the alliance and was represented at the meeting by Katja Bergqvist, Nordic CEO of Nordea Life & Pensions. She also held a speech where she encouraged more proactive investments. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has on several occasions pointed out that asset owners like Nordea Life & Pensions play a very important role in driving change in the financial sector and the economy as a whole as they have a great impact on how capital flows are managed. In this work the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance plays a major role with ambitious targets and concrete measures. 

"Since the beginning the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has focused on developing concrete and robust methods for how we can set ambitious short- and long-term climate targets in line with science. With our newly developed framework we have a good basis for reaching our ambitious targets for 2025,” says Katja Bergqvist, Nordic CEO of Nordea Life & Pensions. 

The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance was founded in 2019 and currently consists of 33 pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional owners, together managing more than SEK 50,000bn. The purpose of the meeting with António Guterres was to discuss the Alliance’s plans for 2021, the upcoming introduction of the members’ 2025 targets as well as important policy initiatives before the climate change conference in Glasgow in November (COP26). 

António Guterres stressed the importance of the private sector’s role in the transition towards a more equal and sustainable world and praised the Alliance for ambitious targets and concrete actions. Katja Bergqvist held a speech at the meeting where she welcomed the ambitious targets set by the Alliance and at the same time encouraged more proactive investments. 

“At Nordea Life & Pensions we underlined the importance of not only focusing on reducing emissions but also on developing and investing in new climate solutions and technologies. As long-term investors we play an important role in contributing to and driving an ambitious climate transition at the same time as it gives us new investment opportunities. The meeting was a success and with clear support from UN Secretary-General António Guterres,” says Katja Bergqvist. Nordea Life & Pensions will present its emissions targets for 2025 during the first quarter of 2021. 

The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance

All members of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance are committed to transitioning their investment portfolios to net zero emissions by 2050 consistent with a maximum temperature rise of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial temperatures. The members have also agreed to set intermediate targets every five years, starting in 2021 to 2025.