New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, reached agreements with four U.S. companies to compel them to set targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and regularly report on their progress, said New York state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, sole trustee of the $242.3 billion pension fund, in a news release Tuesday.
As a result of these agreements, the pension fund has withdrawn its shareholder resolutions with the companies.
The four companies are Carrier Global Corp., a heating, ventilation and air conditioning firm; pizza company Papa John's International Inc.; aluminum producer Century Aluminum Co.; and Spirit Realty Capital Inc., a real estate investment trust.
The pension fund has filed more than 160 climate change-related shareholder resolutions and reached 85 agreements with portfolio companies to analyze climate risks, set greenhouse gas reduction targets and renewable energy and energy efficiency goals, prevent deforestation, publish sustainability reports, and appoint directors with environmental expertise, the news release added.
Mark E. Johnson, spokesman for Mr. DiNapoli, confirmed in an email that the 85 climate-change agreements include the four new deals announced Tuesday.
In recent years the pension fund has reached agreements such companies such as American Electric Power, Eversource Energy, Carnival Corp., Domino's Pizza Inc. and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. to set greenhouse gas emissions targets in accordance with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
"More companies understand that reducing their carbon emissions and addressing the risks posed by climate change can help them achieve long-term success and benefit investors," Mr. DiNapoli said in a release. "With these agreements, the companies are contributing to building a lower-carbon economy and are recognizing their responsibility to be responsive to shareholders' concerns about the risks posed by climate change."