Some of the world’s biggest financial players gathered in New York on Wednesday to urge bold global action on climate change. The gathering was the largest of its kind in the history of the climate debate. The International Investor Forum on Climate Change brought together 181 investors who manage a whopping $13 trillion in assets. To put that in context, the Gross World Product is around $69 trillion.
A statement released by the group urged global leaders to craft a “strong” climate change agreement in Copenhagen, including a global target for emissions reductions of 50 to 85 percent by 2050. “Global emissions of greenhouse gases must be cut significantly in order to avoid dangerous climate change with catastrophic economic and social consequences,” the statement said. “Beyond the potential macroeconomic impacts, investors are concerned about the ways in which climate change and climate policy will affect their investments in individual companies and assets.”
The meeting was, in effect, a powerful rebuke to the politicized U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has tried to portray domestic climate legislation as anti-business but is led by an executive with ties to the coal industry. The investment groups signing yesterday’s statement included Blackrock, HSBC Global Asset Management, and the ING Group–clearly members of the business mainstream. The group also pointed out that tackling climate change will create new investment opportunities in “low-carbon infrastructure or energy efficiency” and “climate friendly products and services.”
