Danica Pension becomes the 26^th member of the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA), committing to transitioning its investment portfolio of $68 billion assets under management (AUM) to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

CEO Ole Krogh Petersen said:

“As a pension company, our more than DKK 400 billion ($60 billion) assets under management can make a huge difference for the green transformation. That is our focus already now and will be for many years to come. Having long-term ambitions is a good thing but acting in a timely manner is even more important. That is why we significantly increased our investments in the green transformation in the first quarter this year, and we are going to develop individual milestones for our carbon footprint from our investments towards 2023, 2025 and 2030.”

Becoming a member of the AOA underpins Danica Pension’s ambition to invest $4.5 billion in the green transformation by 2023, $7.5 billion by 2025 and $15.1 billion by 2030. In the first quarter alone, Danica Pension increased its investments in the green transformation by 38% from approximately $1.6 billion to approximately $2.2 billion.

Danica – the fourth Danish asset owner to join the Alliance – said that by addressing climate issues through corporate dialogue and voting at general meetings, it can, as an investor, can help, encourage or require businesses to transform their business on a scale and at a pace consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. As businesses transition to low-carbon business models, the emissions produced in Danica Pension’s investment portfolio will also be reduced.

About the AOA

Launched in September 2019 during the UN Climate Action Summit, the AOA is an international initiative bringing together investors that are committed to transitioning their investment portfolios to carbon neutrality by 2050. The AOA’s action focuses on implementing the Paris Agreement, the main goal of which is to limit the rise in global average in temperature to 1.5°C.

Total assets under management of the 26 AOA members totals $4.75 trillion.

The AOA is part of the  Race to Zero Campaign, launched on World Environment Day (5^th June 2020). The UNFCCC and COP26 global campaign – under the stewardship of the UN High Level Climate Champions for the UK and Chile – will rally real economy leaders to join the largest ever coalition of leaders – from countries, businesses, cities, regions, investors, and civil society – all committed to the same overarching goal: achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the very latest.

More information: unepfi.org/net-zero-alliance