Leading UK schemes make commitments to net zero

Royal Mail and Co-op have announced their pledge to make their schemes commit to tackling climate change by halving the emissions of their investments by 2030.

This follows from Marks & Spencer (M&S) yesterday outlining its net-zero ambitions during the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) investment conference in Edinburgh.

Earlier this week, the PLSA found that 74% of schemes have net zero ambitions in place, or will have done so in the next two years.

The three companies represent more than £30bn in pension assets.

The M&S scheme announced its pledge to reach net zero by 2040. Similarly, both Co-op and Royal Mail have committed to reaching net zero by 2050, in line with the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

Head of the M&S pension trust Simon Lee said: “With over 100,000 members, the M&S pension scheme must provide security to its members and their beneficiaries for many years to come. The trustee firmly believes investing responsibly supports this duty, reducing risk and protecting the scheme over the long term.

“We have been making progress for a number of years, but as the climate emergency escalates, we all need to do more. The trustee has chosen an ambitious 2040 net-zero target because it can and should strive to achieve better outcomes for everyone.”

Royal Mail Pension Plan chief executive Richard Law-Deeks added: “As a responsible and long-term investor, we are determined to follow a credible and robust pathway to net-zero emissions by 250, aligned with our fiduciary duty to protect the pension of our members.

“However, we recognise that this is going to be a challenging journey. Like many asset owners around the world, achieving our ambition is highly dependent on the actions of others and we are committed to engaging constructively on this topic across the diverse range of asset classes in which we invest.”

However, with more than £1.5trn of UK pension savers’ investments remaining in schemes that have so far not made concrete commitments to net-zero, Make My Money Matter (MMMM) has urged the rest of the sector to follow the example set by M&S, Co-op and Royal Mail so that the whole UK pensions sector is working towards tackling the climate crisis.

MMMM co-founder Richard Curtis said: “Over the past year, we have woken savers up to the power of their pension and seen more than £1.2trn committed to tackling the climate crisis.

“Older schemes may face additional challenges in reaching net zero, but that does not mean they cannot do it. M&S, Royal Mail and Co-op are showing the rest of the sector that it can be done. We are calling on the remaining schemes to follow in their footsteps so that no pension holder is forced to invest in the very industries that will destroy our future.”