Nordea Life & Pension is imposing a net zero requirement on asset managers, as part of its own climate targets for 2025.

Any asset managers that want to manage assets on behalf of Nordea Life & Pension must have committed to a net zero target in line with a 1.5-degree scenario by 2024 at the latest. The provider has its own target to reduce the carbon intensity of its portfolios by at least 25 per cent by the end of 2024.

Nordea Life & Pension, with around €62bn in assets under management, co-founded the UN initiative Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance in September 2019. The alliance has received significant recognition and the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has described it as one of the most ambitious and concrete climate actions.

All members have committed to a net zero target for 2050 and will present individual sub-targets for 2025 this year, which Nordea Life & Pension has now published.

One of Nordea Life & Pension’s new targets is imposing a net zero target requirement on asset managers who wish to manage capital on behalf of Nordea Life & Pension and its pension savers.

“For us and our customers, sustainability is essential, and as an asset owner we have a great opportunity to influence how the assets are managed. We are now requiring asset managers to have committed to a net zero target in line with a 1.5-degree scenario no later than in 2024 to be able to manage assets on behalf of Nordea Life & Pension’s customers,” Nordea Life & Pension CEO, Katja Bergqvist, said.

The provider will also reduce the carbon intensity of its portfolios by at least 25 per cent by the end of 2024, compared with the beginning of 2020. This is an extension of the ambitious efforts already made, which have reduced the carbon intensity by around 20 per cent in the past few years.

“The coming 10 years are crucial. Long-term net zero targets must contain short-term concrete goals and transparent reporting. We have, in the past few years, been working persistently to reduce the carbon intensity of our portfolios. This work continues with our target to reduce the carbon intensity by at least an additional 25 per cent by the end of 2024,” Bergqvist added.

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