Members of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance are financing fewer greenhouse gas emissions and increasing their net-zero targets, according to the latest progress report from the U.N.-convened group released Oct. 18.
The 3.5% drop in emissions in 2022 was despite a dozen more members joining NZAOA that year. The current 86 members represent $9.5 trillion in assets.
The overall numbers showed that members since 2019 reduced emissions 12% by 2022, while the 2020 cohort had a 20% reduction.
Members have to publicly disclose intermediate targets for engagements on reducing emissions. By mid-2023, 100% had set intermediate targets, up from 93% and 95% in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
NZAOA members also have to set disclosure targets for subportfolio, sector and climate solution investments. In 2023, 67 members set subportfolio targets, up from 41 in 2022, with an average reduction range of 22%-32% for 2025 and 40%-60% for 2030.
Of those members setting intermediate targets, most had one for investing in climate solutions. In 2023, the absolute value of those investments was $380.6 billion, mostly in the buildings and energy sectors, the report said.
The report also called on policymakers to make "strong political commitments, backed up by clear action plans across multilevel policy domains," to mobilize more private capital. The work of the alliance "is supporting governments to implement their net-zero programs by accelerating the reform of existing financial and investment policy frameworks," said NZAOA Chairman Günther Thallinger, an Allianz SE board member, in a statement.
