In 2015, we published our first carbon footprint of the equity holdings across all investment portfolios managed by Rathbone Greenbank. This used a tool developed by our ethical research team to allow individual client portfolios to be footprinted. Here, we present the results of an updated carbon footprint analysis as part of our renewed commitment to the Montréal Carbon Pledge.
On 6 October 2016, Rathbone Greenbank was invited to participate in a multidenominational event at Southwark’s Anglican Cathedral on the subject of “Investing sustainably: Protecting financial assets and supporting the transition to a zero-carbon future”.
Rathbone Greenbank has joined 130 investors, pension funds and asset managers from around the world in writing to the leaders of the G20 nations to call for government leadership on the issue of climate change. This call comes ahead of September’s G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, where leaders from 20 major global economies will meet.
As part of our longstanding collaborative engagement programme with the ten largest UK-listed companies in the extractives and utilities sectors, Rathbone Greenbank again attended the annual general meeting of SSE plc, one of the country’s largest energy providers.
On behalf of the Aiming for A coalition, Rathbone Greenbank’s Matt Crossman questioned the SSE board on its commitment to tackling climate change.
Rathbone Greenbank Review features articles relating to our research output, corporate engagement activities and full summaries of our annual Investor Day events.
Climate change represents one of the greatest social, environmental and economic challenges that the world has ever faced. However, despite the very real dangers it presents, the international response to date has been slow and largely ineffective.
Climate change and the threats it poses to society are priority issues for responsible investors in the energy sector. Since 2011, Rathbone Greenbank Investments has been part of a coalition of investors engaging with the top ten carbon emitters in the FTSE 100.
There is now almost unanimous scientific consensus that human activity has been the dominant cause of climate change since the 1950s. A growing body of evidence links activities such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels to the impacts of climate change including global warming, rising sea levels, increased incidence of extreme weather events, loss of biodiversity and reduced crop yields. In turn, these effects are expected to bring about societal pressures as populations migrate, wealth distribution is affected and the likelihood of conflict is increased.
