Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co., Helsinki, joined a group of signatories to the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment initiative, which aims to eliminate carbon emissions from buildings and cities by 2030.
The €48.7billion ($54 billion) asset owner wants to eliminate fossil-fuel exposure in its real estate investments by changing electricity and heating supplies in its building holdings by 2025 and 2030, respectively. In efforts to achieve that, Varma has equipped several of its buildings with solar panels and heat pumps, the fund said in a news release Friday.
Varma had €4.6 billion in real estate investments as of March 31.
"As a major Finnish real estate investor, we have an obligation to focus efforts on reducing emissions and aiming for carbon neutrality. Achieving buildings that are zero carbon in operation calls for actions, and the goals of the commitment are in line with our own climate objectives," Johanna Haikala, investment manager for real estate at Varma, said in the release.
"Our goal is to use renewable forms of energy in our buildings, for instance wind and solar power, supplemented if necessary by emission-free purchased electricity and heating," Ms. Haikala said in the release.
The Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, which was led by the World Green Building Council, a nonprofit advocate of sustainable real estate, was signed by 96 real estate companies, investors and cities.
