NESPF takes its role as a responsible investor very seriously. As a long term investor the Fund has a duty to engage with the companies we invest in on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and to work with others to effect change on ESG issues.
To enable us to accomplish this we are members/signatories of:
Our Statement of Investment Principles can be viewed on our Policies & Statements page.
The 2023-2024 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) SBT Campaign is currently underway. CDP will send a letter on behalf of its Capital Markets signatories and Supply Chain members, to a pre-selected sample of over 2,100 high-impact companies, asking them to commit to and set 1.5°C-aligned Science-Based Targets.
The Fund has added its name to the 2022 Global Investor Statement. This statement is signed by 602 investors representing almost USD $42 trillion in assets under management.
The annual Carbon Disclosure Project Science Based Targets campaign (SBT) offers us the opportunity to accelerate the adoption of science-based climate targets, by collaboratively engaging companies on this matter. To limit warming to 1.5°C, as stipulated in the Paris Agreement, global carbon emissions need to reach net-zero by 2050 at the latest. Science-based targets provide companies with a roadmap for reducing their emissions at the pace and scale that the science tells us is necessary for a 1.5°C world.
The Fund signed up to the 2022 Non-Disclosure Campaign (NDC) initiative. This campaign sees 263 financial institutions with over US$31 trillion in assets join together to call on the world’s highest impact companies to disclose environmental data.
The Fund added its name to the latest Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis. The statement delivers the strongest ever investor call for governments to raise their climate ambition and implement range of meaningful policies.
The Fund joined the call for the US Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate climate disclosure. Climate disclosure is essential to making sound investment decisions and providing investors clarity about risks they should measure and disclose – and rules are needed to provide comparable, consistent information.
The Fund added its signature to a statement supporting the extension of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (the Accord). The Accord, set up following the collapse of Rana Plaza, looks to create safer work environments for garment workers.
The Fund has added its name to a new initiative being conducted by the Carbon Disclosure Project group. In Oct CDP will engage with 1900 high impact companies on committing and setting Science Based Targets aligned with 1.5°C temperature scenarios and approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative.
PRI coordinated letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the USA on the proposed changes to shareholder proposals and proxy firms - SEC Sign On Letter.
PRI Investor Statement asking companies to redouble their efforts and demonstrate clear commitment to eliminating deforestation within their operations and supply chains - Investor Statement on Deforestation and Forest Fires.
To enhance our governance strategy, the NESPF joined the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) in April 2007.
Find out moreNESPF seeks to encourage the companies it invests in to operate the highest standards of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. As a major long term shareholder, the main tools open to the Fund to use its influence is by the responsible exercise of its voting power and engagement on social and environmental factors with the companies in which it invests.
Find out moreTo enable the Fund to be more global in its engagements, we signed up to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in August 2010. To date, over 5,000 organisations from all over the world, representing $121tr of assests under managment, have signed up to the Principles.
Find out moreNew climate related disclosures are being implemented that will allow the Fund and investors to better understand climate related-risks, opportunities and overall impact on the environment. Learn more about the work being undertaken.