“One of Varma’s key responsibility targets is to mitigate climate change. For us, that means, above all, developing the investment portfolio in line with the targets of the Paris climate agreement. We look for-ward to seeing what kind of opportunities for collaboration and dialogue CLC membership will open up for us,” says Varma’s President & CEO Risto Murto.
“We warmly welcome Varma to our organisation. Pension funds and investors play a very important role and have major opportunities to influence matters. Varma is making great progress in climate matters,” states Henrik Ehrnrooth, CLC’s Chairman of the Board.
Varma has set ambitious targets to reduce the carbon footprint of different asset classes. The intention is to reduce, by 2020, the CO2 footprint of its equity investments by 25%, that of its corporate bond invest-ments by 15%, and that of its real estate investments by 15% from the 2015 level. Climate perspectives are also taken into account in Varma’s supply chain and in the company’s own operations.
“Climate change will have substantial financial, social and environmental impacts on current and future generations. As a major investor, we are committed to encouraging and promoting business and invest-ment strategies that reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our investees,” says Murto.
The Climate Leadership Council was established in 2014, and currently has 38 member organisations. The purpose of the CLC is to influence Finnish businesses’ and research organisations’ general competi-tiveness and ability to respond to the threats posed by climate change and the scarcity of natural re-sources, and to improve their ability to utilise the business opportunities arising from these.
Varma has been accepted as a member of the Climate Leadership Council (CLC), an organisation formed by Finnish companies and the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra that challenges businesses and society to mitigate climate change.