The Green Bond Pledge is an international declaration that all bonds financing long-term infrastructure and capital projects need to address environmental impacts and climate risk. It reflects the goals of the Paris agreement, and asks cities, county and state governments, and corporations to account for climate risk when designing future infrastructure and capital projects and consider financing them with green bonds.
LGS’ Head of Responsible Investment, Bill Hartnett said: “We’re proud to be the sole Australian signatory to the Green Bond Pledge. The objectives of the Pledge perfectly align with our philosophy for responsible investing. The Pledge is based on the premise that public and private sector bonds financing long-term clean infrastructure need to incorporate mitigation, adaptation and resilience to climate impacts.”
“Local Government Super was the first Australian super fund to invest in green or climate bonds in 2012. Since then our exposure to these assets, which provide bond like returns and are also specifically financing environmentally positive projects and assets, has grown to over $150m. We have been very pleased with them – both for their investment returns and their sustainability impact – and by signing the Green Bond pledge we are encouraging further growth in the market,” Bill Hartnett said.
Other founding signatories include: US State Treasurers of California, New Mexico and Rhode Island; the Cities of Asheville and San Francisco – California; King County – Washington; and financial firms, Global New Energy Finance and R3 Returns.
Climate Bonds Initiatives CEO, Sean Kidney said: “The foundation signatories are to be congratulated. By signing the Pledge, they are opening another path for much needed linkage between sub-nationals and corporate climate goals and their financial balance sheets and investment plans.”
LGS recently announced it had awarded a fixed-income ESG mandate to investment manager, PIMCO. Under the mandate, PIMCO will manage approximately AUD $440million across global credit and government bonds, integrating environmental, social, and governance considerations in its investment practices.
LGS has been widely recognised for its commitment to responsible investment:
- -Number one ranking globally for the management of climate change in the 2017 global Asset Owners Disclosure Project
- -Named Australia’s Best Green Super Fund for the sixth time at the 2018Moneymagazine ‘Best of the Best’ awards
- 5-Star Green Star rating for the performance of the LGS direct property portfolio