A group of European pension funds owning a combined $2trn (£1.5bn) of assets has challenged 55 European firms on their approach to climate lobbying.
The initiative, led by the Church of England Pensions Board and Sweden’s national pension fund, AP7, is masking large companies, such as BP, BMW, Royal mDutch Shell, Glencore and Airbus, to review their relationships with lobby groups to ensure that they support the Paris Climate Agreement instead of campaigning against it.
Investors will target 55 high-emitting companies which have been ranked as the worst offenders in terms of their position on climate change and their influence on policy makers based on research by InfluenceMap, a non-governmental organisation that monitors lobbying activity.
It follows a leaked document in September that BusinessEurope, a lobby group for European corporations, is planning to oppose European policy initiatives on climate change.
In the communication, BusinessEurope advises members m to challenge the European Commission in an attempt to “minimise the issue”.
The lobby group also suggests that members can be “rather positive as long as it remains a political statement with no implications on the range of EU2030 legislations”, the European Council’s energy strategy.
This stance has now been challenged by institutional investors, who call on corporations to review their relationships with BusinessEurope.
“Lobbying on climate issues should be evaluated, managed and reported on transparently. We are hoping this will become a natural component of companies’ sustainability reporting” comments Charlotta Dawidowski Sydstrand, ESG Manager at Sweden’s AP7 Pension Fund.
