More institutional investors are making net-zero commitments and paying closer attention to biodiversity, according to Robeco's 2023 Global Climate Survey released Tuesday.
It found those investors also keeping an eye on renewable energy and being regionally divided by the politics of ESG.
The survey, conducted by CoreData Research for Robeco, covered 300 large institutional and wholesale investors in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and South Africa with a collective $27.4 trillion in assets under management.
On climate change, the survey found 48% of the investors making net-zero commitments by 2050, up from 45% the previous year, with 55% of them assessing how their portfolios impact carbon emissions.
The numbers were lower when it came to measuring indirect Scope 3 emissions, with only 20% of investors doing so, and only 27% reported getting a forward-looking view of the emissions pathways of the companies they invest in. One-fourth of the investors reported integrating climate change scenarios into capital market assumptions or being likely to do so in within the year, and 29% reported adopting or planning to adopt climate-tilted benchmarks in that time frame.
Biodiversity is a concern for 48% of investors who cited its importance to their investment policy. Equities, green bonds and private markets were the leading asset classes for biodiversity integration, while the biggest barriers cited were a lack of suitable data, ratings and internal expertise.
Survey results one year after the start of an energy crisis found 51% of investors interested in renewable energy, but only 30% accelerating the decarbonization of their portfolios. The 2023 survey found 38% of European investors allowing higher allocations to oil and gas companies, 48% of North American investors and 59% in APAC.
There was an even bigger divide between North American investors and others when it comes to the increased politicization of ESG in America, with 47% of investors in North America concerned about the impact on their investment plans, compared to 30% in Europe. It was the opposite for European and APAC investors, with 63% and 57%, respectively, more concerned about political pressure for failing to act on ESG and climate, the Robeco survey found.
