Rest's objective to achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2050
Rest has a long-term objective to achieve a net zero carbon footprint for the fund by 2050. This is consistent with the goals of the United Nations Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement seeks to keep global temperature rise this century to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Rest’s net zero by 2050 objective is an important next step in our approach to managing environmental social and governance (ESG) factors in our investment process, and consistent with long term investment performance and member expectations.
To achieve this objective, we have set six key measures:
1. We will advocate for an economy-wide reduction of emissions of 45 per cent by 2030, based on 2005 levels, particularly in order to continue reducing the Weighted Average Carbon Intensity of the equities portfolio year on year.
2. We have an ambition to increase our investment in renewable energy and low-carbon assets to $2 billion by 2025.
3. We are aiming to have our directly owned property assets achieve net zero carbon emissions in operation by 2030.
4. By 2026, we have an ambition to allocate one per cent of the portfolio to ‘impact investments’ that generate strong returns and also provide benefits to society and the environment.
5. We will regularly conduct analysis and stress testing of our portfolio against a number of different climate change scenarios, including for a society where there are net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
6. We will regularly conduct analysis and stress testing of our portfolio against a number of different climate change scenarios, including for a society where there are net zero carbon emissions by 2050.