His comments come as 30 of the UK’s largest companies – including HSBC and John Lewis – pledged to tackle climate change in support of the Government’s ‘Green Great Britain Week’.
To mark this campaign, new data from the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), shows nearly three quarters of their savers (73 per cent) think it’s important their pension scheme considers the environment, society and corporate behaviour when investing their money.
Opperman says: “Pension schemes, as the ultimate long-term investors, have a crucial role to play in giving their members a planet fit to live on and fit for the future.
“Green Great Britain Week has provided a timely reminder for trustees that savers are wanting oversight of where their money is invested.”
Opperman pointed out that the government has already introduced new rules that ensure the occupational pension scheme trustees take account of climate change and tell their members how environmental and other risks are taken into account when their money is invested.
The FCA will consult next year on introducing similar rules for contract-based pension schemes.
He adds: “We’ve given pension schemes a duty to state how they take account of climate change and other environmental risks – and it’s why we’re putting power back in the hands of individuals, giving them the ability to see where their money is going.”
Three local government pension schemes already pledging to align their investment portfolios with the goals of the Paris climate agreement, while NEST, with more than seven million members, has said it will consider how physical impacts of climate change may affect investments it has made in its ‘climate aware’ fund.
Opperman points out that this can be a useful engagement tool for trustees and sponsoring companies. The government statement points More younger savers are saving into a pension scheme, as a result of auto-enrolment, and are set to be investing for 40 years or more.
These younger savers savers are also increasingly concerned with the environmental and social impacts of their consumer and investment decisions.
As a result trustees and personal pension providers need to have clear policies on how they will respond to a the economic challenges and opportunities presented by a rapidly changing climate.