The Church of England is taking the lead on companies committing to the Paris Climate Agreement, with an investment of £600 million at the launch of a new global stock index.
The FTSE Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) Index aims to allow investment funds to see which companies are committed to the targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement, to allow for more ethical investing.
The index is the first to build in data from the London School of Economics hosted TPI, which tracks whether companies align to the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of keeping warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
The Index will reward those companies with public targets aligned to the Paris Agreement whilst significantly underweighting or excluding those that do not.
The Rt Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury said: “We all have both a moral and financial responsibility to address the climate emergency and to use those tools available to us to support the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
“For Christians and people of conscience, this is even more so when you see the impacts on the world’s poorest and least equipped to adapt to extreme weather, as well as the impacts on the beauty of God’s creation.
“Today’s launch and commitment of £600 million by the Church of England Pensions Board is world leading in not only embedding the insights of the TPI, that the Church co-chairs with the Environment Agency Pension Fund, but in demonstrating that it is possible to act, to take leadership and in doing so challenge the market that is currently aligned to a world of 3.8 degrees of warming.
“I congratulate the Board and all those involved in this unique and industry leading partnership and invite other Pension Funds to work with us in advance of the UN Glasgow Climate Conference later this year.”
Jemima Parker, Diocese of Leeds Environment Officer, said: “I’m delighted the Church is proactively promoting investing in sustainable companies.
“This is a significant step forward for funds looking to be a blessing by investing in a low carbon future.
“We can all consider where our investments are going, and tools like this help us to make sure we are investing wisely.”
The TPI is a global initiative led by asset owners and supported by asset managers.
Aimed at investors and free to use, the TPI assess how individual companies are positioning themselves for the transition to a low-carbon economy through a public, transparent online tool.
The TPI is backed by 62 funds with over US $18 trillion of combined assets under management or assets under advice.
TPI is co-chaired by the Church of England Pensions Board and the Environment Agency Pension Fund in partnership with the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics.