HOW DID YOU GET INTO IMPACT INVESTING?
I started off working on the topic of climate change at the UN Environment where I supported around 30 countries to implement climate change-related projects. I then transitioned to working with governments on their climate finance strategies and promoting much larger public-private partnerships. After these two experiences, it became very clear that what was really needed was a paradigm shift in our economic system to avoid the negative impacts of climate change. I found that the private sector was best placed to enable this shift by redirecting financial flows and therefore joined the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) team convening the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. This alliance of 28 institutional investors aims to support its members to transition their investment portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.
While all SDGs are equally important, SDG 13 Climate Action is especially relevant for me through my work. However, achieving this SDG will only be possible if we also work towards eliminating poverty, increasing education, adjusting our agricultural systems, and building more efficient cities. It is difficult to focus on just one SDG as they are all interconnected!
Impact investing in my view elevates non-financial objectives to the level of financial objectives. This means that financial risks and returns are weighed alongside environmental or social risks and returns. For me, it is just common sense that a better-run, more socially equitable or environmentally sound company, is likely to outperform in the long run, and there is a growing body of evidence to support this. In other words, companies cannot outrun the economic effects of environmental destruction for long.
Working with the colleagues and content of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, and other programs like the Investor Agenda, is extremely rewarding. I am motivated daily by colleagues who work to address complex and challenging problems that involve policy change, and business model adjustments, and draw from complicated climate science. Seeing their persistence is extremely encouraging. We are also getting to a place where leading institutional investors are setting a new bar for the industry by issuing transparent strategies and targets. This is extremely promising.
Representing nearly USD 5.0 trillion in assets under management, the United Nations-Convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance is an international group of institutional investors delivering on a bold commitment to transition their investment portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.