Nearly three-quarters of savers believe climate change is important, but only 2 per cent have changed where their pensions are invested to address it, according to new research.
B&CE, the provider of The People’s Pension, which conducted the research, says this shows why default funds are the way to deal with climate change.
According to a YouGov2 survey of over 2,000 people, pension savers are interested in responsible and sustainable investment. Nearly half (49 per cent) want their pension company to be invested ‘ethically’ on their behalf.
The study also revealed that members had taken the following steps to reduce their impact on climate change: Almost six in ten (58 per cent) reduced their energy use, nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) used reusable items, 81 per cent recycled their trash, 36 per cent composted food waste, 48 per cent reduced their water use, 35 per cent drove less, 28 per cent flew less, and 33 per cent bought locally grown food.
B&CE, provider of The People’s Pension managing director of investments Jon Cunliffe says:
“Climate change is of real importance to savers and it’s clear they want their pension provider to invest responsibly on their behalf. Rather than expecting savers to move their money to climate specific funds, pension providers should operate in the best interest of savers by ensuring their default funds invest responsibly and work to tackle climate change.
“At The People’s Pension, we’ve already taken steps to reduce the net emissions in a portion of our portfolio, investing in a way to significantly decrease the amount of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions across our investments.
“We believe that climate change is a material financial risk to members’ pension savings, meaning we are seeking to manage climate risk across the whole portfolio. We also believe that this will have the most impact in aiding the transition to a net-zero economy.”