In the push to decarbonize portfolios, institutional investors have been asking companies to develop net-zero emission commitments. Along those lines, panelists at the Sustainable Investment Forum North America on Sept. 24 in New York said that in addition to investing in airports, they have been pushing for the adopt sustainable or renewable aviation fuels.
At the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, one of the Toronto-based allocator’s holdings include Brussels Airport. Originally having a 2050 target for net-zero commitments, the airport has since adjusted to a 2030 target to consider Scope 1 and Scope 2, said Anna Murray, senior managing director and global head of sustainable investing for the C$255.8 billion ($188.3 billion) pension fund.
Each one of IFM Investors’ infrastructure assets has an emission plan, said Eric Maltzer, director of sustainable investment. He noted that the A$215 billion ($146.3 billion) Melbourne-headquartered manager has about 40 assets located in the Americas, Europe and Australia, where the firm owns most of the major airports.
“If we’re going to own airports, we better be part of the solution,” Maltzer added. “We better be helping them to develop sustainable aviation fuels as quickly as possible (and) make them as cheap as possible.”
Similarly, if one of its holdings is a fossil fuel asset, IFM will work to try to make it more efficient by, as Maltzer provided as an example, avoiding leaks by running predictive maintenance. In addition to having investment processes having “real integrity,” he emphasized the investment teams’ commitment to due diligence when looking at an asset.
“You can’t just swipe right on an asset and pass it off to somebody else to marry. You are committed,” Maltzer said. “And so it makes all of us think really, really hard when you see a potential asset. Is this a good long-term play? Have they properly mitigated some of their climate risks? And if they haven’t, can we get them to a better place by doing the right thing?”
While ensuring each of its assets has a net-zero transition plan can take a lot of work, Maltzer noted IFM has the capacity to do this, and it’s important if investors want to see the energy transition happen.
“Make sure you’re in a room with people who disagree with you, and then make sure you have the tools and argument to win the day,” Maltzer said. “If you’re talking to other people who already agree that climate change is a massive existential crisis, you’re not really doing the work of transitioning us to where we need to go.”
