Today, Nest published a climate change policy in which the pension scheme commits to divesting from thermal coal, oil sands and arctic drilling by the end of 2020.

More generally, this is part of a commitment by the scheme to tilt its equity investments away from high carbon sectors and companies still in the fund could face votes against management if they fail to adequately disclose climate change risks and opportunities.

Responding to this, Lauren Peacock, Campaign Manager at ShareAction says: “We warmly welcome Nest’s new policy on climate change and hope it will encourage other pension schemes to up their ambition. Nest’s policy acknowledges the impact of its investments on the planet and takes responsibility for them. By committing to engage with companies head on, all the while moving assets out of high carbon sectors, Nest is setting clear expectations for those most responsible for the climate emergency and demonstrating the power of pensions to move them along a more sustainable path. It is vital that engagement moves past disclosure and leads to meaningful change by companies if we are to curtail the climate crisis.”

Notes to editors:

• For more information, please contact Beau O'Sullivan at beau.osullivan@shareaction.org or +447950 299 491
• Nest’s new climate change policy can be found here.
• Nest will exclude thermal coal, tar sands and arctic drilling from its investment portfolio using the following tests: all companies with more than 20% of revenues from these activities by the end of 2020; then all companies with more than 10% of revenues from these activities by 2023; then all companies still involved in these activities by 2025 if they have not committed to a full, accountable phase-out by 2030 at the latest