Environment

Environment

Under Treasurer Moore’s leadership, the North Carolina Retirement Systems (NCRS) is actively engaging with companies to address questions surrounding their climate change policy. More and more treasurers, pension fund managers and investors believe that climate change is now a major economic issue to which all companies should be responding. Investors understand that this will have an impact on corporations going forward, whether through direct physical impacts to infrastructure, tighter regulations on carbon emissions or change in public perception for companies that do not take notice of global warming. It is important to investors, like Treasurer Moore, for companies to evaluate and disclose both the risks and the opportunities from climate change.

Treasurer Moore was an original convener of the 2003 Institutional Investor Summit at the United Nations, bringing together institutional investors to share information on the financial impacts of climate change. The first Summit brought together over 200 participants representing over $1 trillion in assets. By the second Summit in 2005, those numbers grew to over 400 participants representing over $5 trillion in assets. Treasurer Moore continues to lead in this growing movement to prepare for sustainability in a carbon-constrained future.

Examples of actions by the NCRS:

  • Carbon Disclosure Project: Treasurer Moore joined with an international coalition of investors, representing over $31 trillion in assets under management, to seek disclosure of carbon emissions from the world’s largest companies. In 2006, the coalition sent a questionnaire to over 2100 companies. Of the FT500 companies (the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the world by market capitalization), 72% answered the questionnaire, proving invaluable information for investors.
  • NCRS co-signed a letter to the top 30 insurance companies seeking information on climate risk policies. The response was very positive and resulted in AIG, one of the world’s largest insurers, becoming the first U.S. insurance company to adopt a climate change policy.
  • NCRS filed a shareholder resolution with ConocoPhillips to encourage the company to invest in renewable energy research and development and to reduce carbon emissions, which will help the energy company remain sustainable in a new carbon future.
  • A coalition of large investors, including NCRS, has sought a meeting with the ExxonMobil Board of Directors to discuss their lack of action regarding global climate change. The coalition has met with company executives and continues to seek direct answers from the Board.
  • NCRS is a member of CERES and the Investor Network on Climate Risk, organizations which bring together institutional investors to work with companies on sustainability issues. NCRS coordinates with other investors to engage with companies on their actions related to risks and opportunities from global climate change.