March 2025
11Mar

Pension funds should take climate risk more seriously, say experts

Pressure is mounting on pension funds to take more account of climate change risks, with campaigners calling on trustees to make sustainable investment decisions and use their voting power to push companies they invest in to go green. They also want  governments to consider tighter regulation to force transparency. The push comes as some big pension funds are already taking more action on climate despite US president Donald Trump’s hostility to ESG, and some companies are backtracking on climate commitments...

March 11, 2025
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05Mar

The 2023 Latin America report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for health-centred climate-resilient development

By Stella M. Hartinger, Yasna K. Palmeiro-Silva, Camila Llerena-Cayo, Luciana Blanco-Villafuerte, Luis E. Escobar, Avriel Diaz, Juliana Helo Sarmiento, Andrés G. Lescano, Oscar Melo, David Rojas-Rueda, Bruno Takahashi, Max Callaghan, Francisco Chesini, Shouro Dasgupta, Carolina Gil Posse, Nelson Gouveia, Aline Martins de Carvalho, Zaray Miranda-Chacón, Nahid Mohajeri, Chrissie Pantoja, Elizabeth J. Z. Robinson, Maria Fernanda Salas, Raquel Santiago, Enzo Sauma, Mauricio Santos-Vega, Daniel Scamman, Milena Sergeeva, Tatiana Souza de Camargo, Cecilia Sorensen, Juan D. Umaña, Marisol Yglesias-González, Maria Walawender,...

March 5, 2025
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03Mar

Climate Change May Drive Premature Aging

A new USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology study suggests greater exposure to extreme heat may accelerate biological aging in older adults, raising new concerns about how climate change and heat waves could affect long-term health and aging at the molecular level. People in neighborhoods that experience more days of high heat show greater biological aging on average than residents of cooler regions, said Jennifer Ailshire, senior author of the study and professor of gerontology and sociology at the USC Leonard Davis School. Biological...

March 3, 2025
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February 2025
20Feb

Why trustees must keep ahead of greenwashing risks

‘Greenwashing’ by asset managers and other entities can leave trustees exposed to legal, regulatory and reputational risk, a law firm has warned. It comes after some high-profile campaigns have highlighted investments into fossil fuel companies made by asset managers and pension providers, despite claims of low carbon and sustainable approaches. Most recently, the Make My Money Matter campaign highlighted 12 of the UK’s biggest pension providers and claimed there was a “persistent failure” across the industry to address climate change concerns. Kate Granville Smith,...

February 20, 2025
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13Feb

Canada. How safe is your pension from climate change? A new tool could predict that — if companies use it

Corporate bean counters can now implement “landmark,” made-in-Canada environmental standards as part of their bookkeeping, to be more transparent about how profits could be affected by climate change. In December, Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada enshrined the standards in its official handbook used for preparing financial statements. Industry watchers say the push towards corporate transparency is likely to continue despite recent moves by businesses and politicians in the opposite direction. Transparency rules help the public see where risks are hidden. Take real estate...

February 13, 2025
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12Feb

Blue state US pension funds ‘lack consistency’ on climate voting

The Sierra Club has warned of “problems with consistency” at US public pension funds in its latest analysis of sustainability-related voting, with differences in support across resolutions and a reluctance to oppose directors at climate laggards. The group last year analysed a number of pension funds in Democrat-leaning states, and has now expanded to include large funds in Republican-leaning and swing states, meaning the latest edition covers more than 30 of the “largest and most influential public pension funds in...

February 12, 2025
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10Feb

Study reveals health and economic impact of air pollution in aging societies

Air pollution is a growing health issue worldwide, and its impacts are often underestimated in aging societies like Japan. A new study led by researchers from the University of Tokyo highlights how fine particulate pollution, or PM2.5, not only worsens health outcomes, but also creates significant socioeconomic challenges in regions with aging populations and limited medical resources. The researchers hope these findings motivate policymakers to tackle the interrelated issues behind this problem. PM2.5 refers to microscopic particles of pollution small...

February 10, 2025
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06Feb

UK. Pension trustees urged not to ‘lose sight’ of urgency of climate issues

Pension scheme trustees should not lose sight of the urgency of climate change, the Trustee Sustainability Working Group (TSWG) has said, encouraging trustees not to use recent changes in international priorities as a reason to move climate issues off their agenda. The TSWG, launched in December, also encouraged the consulting community and investment manager community to move beyond a focus on emissions to consider the financial risks inherent in a world that does not transition. However, it suggested that innovation is...

February 6, 2025
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04Feb

Asset owners ‘increasingly aware’ of risks of biodiversity loss, report says

Close to two-thirds of asset owners are now incorporating nature and biodiversity into their sustainability strategies whilst a further one-fifth intend to do so, according to a survey by Pensions for Purpose, the UK-based industry body. The report was based on interviews with 20 asset owners and managers across the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America and Latin America. These included the Bedfordshire Pension Fund, Cambridge Associates, PGGM, JANA Investment Advisers and the Wiltshire Pension Fund. Asset owners are “at a critical point in...

February 4, 2025
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January 2025
29Jan

UK. ‘Financial materiality’ forcing nature and biodiversity into sustainability strategies

“Financial materiality” is forcing asset owners, including pension funds, to incorporate nature and biodiversity into their sustainability strategies, according to a report by Pensions for Purpose. The report found that 65 per cent of asset owners are now incorporating nature and biodiversity into their sustainability strategies, while a further 20 per cent already plan to do so. Commissioned by the First Sentier MUFG Sustainable Investment Institute, the research highlighted the pressing need for the financial sector to confront biodiversity risks, with...

January 29, 2025
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