Pension Funds & Climate Risk

Nest, the £20bn UK government-backed workplace pension scheme, has sold its holdings in ExxonMobil and four other energy companies after criticising their progress on managing climate change risks.

Frustration over the response of some fossil fuel companies to the threat of catastrophic global warming is driving a small but growing number of influential pension funds to divest from businesses that are perceived as blocking progress towards a lower carbon economy.

“At Nest we aim to work with companies to encourage sustainable business decisions but will draw the line somewhere. The five companies being excluded have not done enough to convince us that we should remain shareholders".