2. CLIMATE SMART
SUPER:
UNDERSTANDING
SUPERANNUATION
& CLIMATE RISK
Climate Smart Super: Understanding Superannuation & Climate Risk and associated
content can be accessed at www.climateinstitute.org.au
The lead authors of this report are Fiona Manning (Investment Analyst), Kristina Stefanova
(Communications Director) and Charlotte Wood (Consultant) of The Climate Institute.
Special thanks for the support provided by Kathryn Manton, Helene Ester, John Connor,
Maryan Lee and Julian Poulter. Special thanks also to our colleagues at Ogilvy Public
Relations and Baker & McKenzie, Pro Bono Legal Adviser.
The information provided in this report does not constitute financial product advice or
legal advice. The Climate Institute does not hold an Australian Financial Services licence,
nor does it make any recommendation in this report about any superannuation fund or
any other financial product.
You should obtain independent professional advice in assessing the effect of the
information on your circumstances and before making any financial decisions.
Although The Climate Institute attempts to provide accurate, complete and up to date
information which has been obtained from the sources that are considered reliable,
it makes no warranties or representations, expressed or implied, as to whether the
information provided in this report is accurate, complete, or up to date.
The
Climate
Institute
There is an emerging awareness of the climate
and carbon risks to our superannuation funds but
awareness about disclosure, advocacy and active
ownership has been patchy. The Climate Institute
is at the forefront in examining the assumptions
behind such investment decisions and the extent
to which climate risk is or is not integrated.
This report aims to inform citizen investors and
decision makers on the intersection of business,
investment and climate change. It lays out
why managing climate risk in the context of
superannuation matters to you, why you should
ask what your fund is investing in and ensure
you are comfortable with how your retirement
savings are managed.
Climate risk is an area of continued and
growing interest for The Climate Institute and
we expect to produce more reports on this topic
in the coming year.
This report consolidates analysis and review of the
impact of climate and carbon risks on retirement and
superannuation savings, especially in Australia.
It builds on work The Climate Institute has
undertaken with its partner organisation the Asset
Owners Disclosure Project (AODP) in asking the
world’s largest funds to disclose how much of their
investment is in high versus low-carbon assets.
It includes the 2013-14 index results, with a focus
on the performance of Australian funds.
It also looks at the emerging civil economy movement,
in the context of fossil fuel divestment campaigns
and activism activities such as the AODP’s offshoot,
The Vital Few campaign.
WHY HOW
3. UNDERSTANDING
SUPERANNUATION
& CLIMATE RISK
Climate change is the
most high-risk, high
certainty event that
will ever impact global
investment.
Retirement funds worldwide
are largely exposed and
ill-prepared for the predicted
re-pricing of carbon, let
alone climate risks, with the
casualties being ordinary
“citizen investors” and their
retirement nest eggs.
Collectively worth more than $30 trillion,
global superannuation (or pension) funds
make up the single largest consolidation of
money in the world. These funds are at the very
top of the wealth chain, dwarfing the richest
individuals, the most successful companies
and the most powerful governments.
Importantly, we believe superannuation funds have a
responsibility,1
and in many cases a fiduciary duty to
their members, to manage the long-term risks associated
with climate change.
Over 55 per cent of these funds are
estimated to be invested in risky
high-carbon assets and less than
2 per cent in low-carbon solutions.
The response of the investment chain is critical to business
decision-making. This chain can define the behaviour of
investee businesses and the movement of capital, determining
whether money is invested in low- or high-carbon assets.
If superannuation funds shifted even a
small additional proportion of their money
to low-carbon assets, it would drive
billions of dollars into low-carbon solutions,
creating a tipping point and ushering in a
sustainable low-carbon economy.
ENGAGELEARN
CITIZEN INVESTOR
COMPANIES
FUND MANAGERS
SUPERANNUATION
PENSION FUNDS
COMPARE
Educate yourself about your
retirement savings and their
relationship to climate change.
Reading this report and
considering your own situation
constitute a good start.
This report outlines initiatives such as
The Vital Few social media platform
and the 350.org divestment campaign
(see page 13 and 19). These are just
some of the routes you can take to ask
your fund how it’s managing climate risk.
Not all super funds are created
equal when it comes to disclosure
and taking climate change risk into
account. Check out initiatives like
the AODP’s global index to see what
your fund is doing (see page 07).
LOBBY MOVE
If you’re not getting the transparency
you’re after from your fund, ratchet
up your engagement to chasing local
politicians to improve regulatory
disclosure requirements.
When you see the AODP rankings, you’ll know
what your fund is telling, or not telling you.
If you’ve engaged and you’re still not happy then
discuss with a financial adviser and move to a
fund that is more representative of your values.
$30T
The Asset Owners Disclosure Project (AODP),
ranks the world’s 1,000 largest asset owners –
pension funds but also large insurance companies,
sovereign wealth funds and foundations.
+ Australian funds rank relatively well globally,
perhaps because they have been surveyed under
a pilot project for longer than funds overseas.
Four of the top 10 funds on the global index
are domestic, led by Local Government Super,
which is ranked No 2.
The 2013-14 AODP index found that:
+ There is an overall crisis of
transparency for large asset owners
globally, with lack of disclosure
about investment practices in the
context of climate risk.
This report gives some options for you,
as a citizen investor. But let us remind you
again that you should always talk to your
financial advisor first.
This report seeks to inform you as a citizen,
as an investor, and as a citizen investor.
It does not seek to provide financial advice, or recommend
any particular superannuation fund. But it lays out why
superannuation matters in the context of climate change.
It also explores the top-down and bottom-up approaches
needed to change investment decisions to support the
transition to a global low-carbon economy.
A.
B.
C.
E.
D.
01
01
1000
4. You think only Warren Buffet and a handful of
others are the world’s most powerful investors?
Think again.
You are. Don’t believe it?
Even if you have only been in the Australian
workforce for a few years, you have a superannuation
or pension savings account into which your employer
has been putting a minimum of 9 per cent of your
salary for you. By the time you retire, that nest egg is
intended to substantially or completely support you.
There is upwards of $1.6 trillion under management
in retirement savings in Australia as of mid-20132
-
an amount that is slightly larger than the country’s
entire annual gross domestic product.
Superannuation assets have been growing at a
rate of 10.5 per cent a year in the decade leading
to June 2012, making Australia the fourth largest
pool of retirement savings in the OECD.3
Globally, the total pool managed by superannuation
and retirement savings is a staggering $30 trillion,
nearly twice as big as the entire US economy.
In 1995 these funds’ investments accounted
for an average ownership stake of 15 per cent
of companies listed on global stock markets;
they now own over half.4
What this means is that your money has joined
that of other citizens to create a new type of
powerful investor, at a scale never seen before in
economic history.
At the moment most of us are accidental investors,
not entirely sure what our retirement funds are
invested in. However, a vital few are realising they
can act as citizen investors and can provide a
counterbalance to short-term and unsustainable
investment decision making.
This makes superannuation funds “universal
owners”. Unlike the financial barons of old, universal
owners can’t just privatise the gains and socialise
the losses – those losses appear in their own
investments.
A well informed universal owner would know
that their interest is best served when the entire
economy performs well. We believe universal
owners with long-term investment periods – such
as funds whose members have on average 20 year
investment horizons – need to ensure long-term
social and environmental as well as economic
sustainability. To ensure that this happens,
superannuation funds should properly account
for potential risks and have the best possible
governance structures in place.
In reality, there are a number of barriers that
reinforce short-term and unsustainable decisions
that are making us, as fund members, accidental
investors in some unsavoury business.
Investment is defined as “putting money in an
asset with the expectation of capital appreciation,
dividends and/or interest earnings.” Banks invest
and businesses, from factories to local shops,
invest. And you, the average citizen, invest. As an
investor, you control - or should control - your own
investment decisions.
Most regularly you invest by purchasing assets
such as homes or cars. In the long-term, arguably
your most important investment is through
superannuation or pension savings. In fact,
superannuation is the largest asset for the average
Australian, after his/her home.5
Superannuation funds are part-owners of not only
some of the largest domestic companies, but
also some of the largest globally. They are mostly
invested across all asset classes from property to
mining to agriculture to health services.
I OWN WHAT?ARE YOU
AN ACCIDENTAL
INVESTOR?
Total pension, insurance and sovereign wealth funds split into regions (US$) Data taken from the AODP database.
There is $30 trillion invested
in long-term pension and
investment funds globally.
This forms part of over $50 trillion being managed for
long-term outcomes - pension, investment, insurance
and sovereign wealth funds. It is the single, largest
consolidation of money found anywhere in the world.
$1.4T
$17.9T
$387B
$860B
$20T
$9.6T
$2.1T
Retirement savings institutions
like super funds could easily
just put your money into a bank
account.
But they have instead, over the years,
found ways to make more money
by investing in a range of assets,
such as profitable companies.
These investments are meant to be
more lucrative for you.
You should be aware of what your
super fund is invested in, and make
sure you feel comfortable with
those investments. In this report we
give you some options for how you
can engage with your fund.
ASSETS ASSETS
$$$$$$$$
ASSETS
$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$
$30T
0201
5. Many of us are accidental investors in sectors
and companies that face or indeed drive
significant long-term risk. Think climate change.
As research has shown6
, climate change
represents a systemic risk, whose impacts
cascade across economic sectors. Extreme
weather events will increase with climate change
and evidence of economic impacts is not hard
to find. Superstorm Sandy in the US in 2012
disrupted communication, transport and other
infrastructure closing down Wall Street and
the financial sector. In Australia, bushfires and
heatwaves disrupt energy, transport and water
supply infrastructure.
These disruptions threaten life and property but
also cause lingering effects to thinly stretched
supply chains and transport dependent
workforces7
as well as enduring impacts on
individual and community wellbeing.8
In 2011 Queenslanders lived through severe
weather events – cyclones and floods. Immediately
after the storms there were food shortages and
many local crops were destroyed which either
significantly raised prices, or extended item
shortages to other parts of the nation. Afterwards,
insurance premiums went up or were simply not
offered at all.
And it isn’t only Queensland. While Australia makes
up less than 2 per cent of the global reinsurance
market, over the last five years it has incurred 6 per
cent of global losses9
with the figures expected to
keep growing apart.
Globally, climate change is already costing an
estimated $1.6 trillion per year, rising to over
$4 trillion by 2030.10
For Australia, conservative
estimates for the annual costs of unmitigated
climate change on the infrastructure sector alone are
about $9 billion by 2020 and $40 billion by 2050.11
Analysis by investment firm Mercer found that
climate change is a systemic risk contributing
up to 10 per cent of portfolio investment risk.12
At the same time, a survey of Australian funds in
2011 found that a vast majority of surveyed funds
(83 per cent) believe that climate change is not
currently being priced in asset valuations.13
So the risk is there and it’s only growing. And
you and your retirement nest egg are exposed to
extreme weather events and other climate change
impacts that are likely to become more frequent.14
A 2013 report by investment bank HSBC found
that Australia has the second highest cost per
GDP from extreme weather events among the
G20 nations. In the previous two years, Australia
recorded the biggest increase in temperatures
of any G20 country and the second worst
deterioration in water availability.15
Around the same time as the HSBC report and
within weeks of each other, the heads of the most
significant and conservative economic institutions
around the world – the International Monetary
Fund, the World Bank and the OECD – spoke
about the need to address climate change and
keep global average temperatures from rising
above 2°C.
Largely based on the work of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), over 190
governments including China, US and Australia,
have already agreed that the world should avoid a
2°C increase of average global temperature.16
For Australia, as the advanced economy most
exposed to climate and extreme weather impacts,
achieving this goal is not only in our national
interest – it is in our retirement interest.
IS YOUR NEST EGG
EXPOSED?
MANY OF US ARE ACCIDENTAL INVESTORS IN SECTORS
AND COMPANIES THAT FACE OR INDEED DRIVE SIGNIFICANT
LONG-TERM RISK.
0403
6. Climate scientists are unequivocal that our climate is
changing and that global average temperature has
already warmed by almost 1°C above pre-industrial
average. They are as certain as tobacco causes
cancer that heat trapping carbon dioxide pollution,
mostly from our fossil fuel driven power stations,
vehicles and factories is driving the warming.17
In order to prevent global temperatures from rising
more than 2°C, there is a finite amount of fossil
fuels that can be burnt. This amount that the world
could still burn is known as the “carbon budget”.
This concept has been around since the early 1990s
but recently popularised by groups such as the
UK-based Carbon Tracker Initiative.
In 2011, the group released research on the expected
valuation impact on companies with fossil fuel reserves
where such a budget is actively in place.18
It found that
for there to be an 80 per cent chance of keeping to the
2°C guardrail, only 20-40 per cent of existing coal, gas
and oil reserves can be burnt.
This carbon budget concept has been applied by
the International Energy Agency and by the IPCC19
in its latest update of climate science released in
September 2013.
If only 20-40 per cent of known fossil fuel reserves
have economic value, there will be a significant
repricing impact on the companies with large
quantities of the 60 to 80 per cent of these reserves
stranded on their balance sheets. These reserves
have been dubbed “unburnable carbon”.
This has tremendous implications globally, but
particularly in Australia. Despite having 11 per cent of
global markets, the 51 gigatonnes of carbon pollution
(GtCO2) in Australian coal reserves that companies
already have on their books represent about 25 per
cent of a precautionary 200 GtCO2 global carbon
budget for coal. Commercially exploitable resources
could be 75 per cent of that budget.20
Either Australia has to achieve a near monopoly on
global coal exports, or Australian coal investments,
and taxpayer supported infrastructure, will be wasted.21
It is highly likely that a significant portion of your
retirement savings is invested in fossil fuel activities.
As such, we consider you directly exposed to any risks
these investments carry in a world moving to address
climate change.
The typical superannuation fund invests 53 per cent of
its portfolio in shares of listed companies (29 per cent
in Australian shares and 24 per cent in international
shares).24
The Australian economy comprises about
2 per cent of the global economy.25
We think that a
superannuation fund allocating just under a third of its
portfolio to the Australian equity market is considerably
overexposed to the Australian economy compared to
other investors around the world.
In addition, the Australian equity market’s exposure
to carbon intensive companies is high, with domestic
giants like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto dominating our
stock exchange. Australia is second only to Mongolia
in terms of coal exports as a proportion of GDP.26
We believe that this dangerously high level of exposure
to a market with comparatively high-carbon intensity
means that Australians – you and I – are more exposed
to the effects of the build-up of unburnable carbon,
a carbon bubble, than their overseas counterparts.
Yes, carbon bubble. Remember the sub-prime
crisis, which caused the global financial crisis and
subsequent recession around most of the globe?
We consider that there is a frightening parallel
between the sub-prime collapse and a carbon bubble.
The sub-prime collapse resulted27
from unsustainable
lending practices that saw average people buy
homes for which they could not service the mortgage
payments. It was driven from the single and false
underlying assumption that housing prices in the
US would only keep going up.
It is similar to the assumption that we can continue
to emit carbon dioxide and other pollution at an
unchecked rate. Investments that will lead to greater
carbon emissions increasingly rest on a speculative
bubble of climate denial or indifference. Either the
bubble bursts, or the climate impacts grow.
The OECD head recently noted28
that the Asset
Owners Disclosure Project estimates an average of
over 55 per cent of superannuation and pension funds’
portfolios is being invested in high-carbon assets or
sectors greatly exposed to climate change physical
impacts and climate change-related regulation.
A SUB-CLIME
CARBON BUBBLE
Only 20-40% of Earth’s known
fossil fuel reserves can be
burned unabated, leaving
60-80% of assets unburnable
and therefore worthless,
according to the Carbon
Tracker Initiative.
CAN’T BREATHE
Accelerates already dangerously
high levels of carbon pollution.
Compromises natural ecosystems
and increases pressure on resources.
Threatens planetary health.
CAN’T SLEEP
Investments lose value as a
price on carbon is implemented.
Value of retirement nest
eggs severely diminished.
Systemic risk to entire
financial sector could usher
in another major crash.
Threatens economic health.
ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FINANCIAL RISK23
+
20 80
0605
IT IS WORTH RECALLING THAT THE INVESTORS ARE IN SO
MANY CASES PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME … THE LOOMING
CHOICE MAY BE EITHER STRANDING THOSE ASSETS OR
STRANDING THE PLANET.22
ANGEL GURRÍA, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE OECD, OCTOBER 2013
7. AODP GLOBAL
CLIMATE INDEX 2013-14
The 2013-14 index information is re-produced courtesy of AODP. For the full report and index visit www.AODProject.net
The Asset Owners Disclosure Project’s (AODP)
2013-14 global climate index spotlights a lack of
investment transparency. Arguably, Australian funds
do better, based on higher representation in the top
10 ranking, but the industry still has a long way to go.
Four of the top 10 funds this year are Australian,
compared to six last year; Australia is still better
represented in the top rankings than other countries.
The No 1 spot in the index this year is held by the
UK’s Environment Agency Active Pension Fund.
That fund stands out for its investment in assets
with a low climate change risk, such as sustainable
infrastructure, sustainably managed forestry and
agribusiness and energy efficient low-carbon buildings.
The index ranks the world’s 1,000 largest asset owners
– over 800 pension funds, 80 insurance companies,
50 sovereign wealth funds and 50 foundations/
endowments – on how they manage climate risk.
The funds are ranked on five key categories:
+ Transparency
+ Risk Management
+ Investment Chain Alignment
+ Active Ownership
+ Low-Carbon Investment
Most funds have no public information and are
slow to respond to surveys, often providing an
incomplete picture. Many don’t even respond.
This year 24 funds submitted responses, which
accounts for many of the newcomers within the
global top 10.
The AODP has rated over 450 funds from publicly
available statements and data that can be compiled
to address questions in the five categories.
Many of the newcomers to the top 10 for Australia
this year are funds that had not previously submitted
full responses to the AODP survey, such as the NAB
Group funds. This transparency pushed the NAB funds
above some who had been in last year’s top 10, such
as UniSuper, Vision Super, HESTA and State Super.
The best performers from Australia this year
are Local Government Super, VicSuper and
AustralianSuper. Each of them is a leader in
disclosing the potential impact of climate change
on their investments to their members.
Here are some of the practices that give these funds a top ranking:
1.
Local Government Super
$6.5 billion under management
Publishes carbon and environmental,
social and governance portfolio
audits for its listed equities portfolios
allowing members to review their
carbon footprint. It also assesses
the emissions footprint and the fossil
fuel reserves exposure of its equity
portfolio and evaluates the energy,
emissions and water efficiency of its
property assets.
2.
VicSuper
$6.2 billion under management
Provides estimated carbon footprint
for its listed equities portfolio for
members’ superannuation savings.
The fund has also improved its
disclosure of its climate change
risk management practices and
provided more information on its
investment in low-carbon assets.
3.
AustralianSuper
$50.6 billion under management
Incorporates climate change
considerations into its strategic
asset allocation, risk management
strategy and investment policy.
This allows the fund managers to
invest in assets with a lower climate
change risk, such as renewable
energy projects, a 6-star rated
energy property portfolio and
green bond, which are issued by
governments to finance sustainable
development.
THE 10 AUSTRALIAN FUNDS WITH THE HIGHEST AODP SURVEY SCORE IN 2013-14THE 10 GLOBAL FUNDS WITH THE HIGHEST AODP SURVEY SCORE IN 2013-14
2013-14 FUND NAME FUNDS ($US M) COUNTRY FUND TYPE 2012
RANK RANK (ALL)
2013-14 FUND NAME FUNDS ($US M) FUND TYPE 2012
RANK RANK (AUS)
1 Environment Agency Active Pension Fund 3,170 UK Pension 39
2 Local Government Super 6,489 Australia Pension 1
3 CalPERS 248,800 USA Pension 15
4 Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW) 170,875 Netherlands Pension 4
5 VicSuper 10,316 Australia Pension 8
6 AustralianSuper 50,600 Australia Pension 10
7 Governement Employees Pension Fund 141,544 South Africa Pension 2
8 Florida Retirement System Pension Plan 122,800 USA Pension 124
9 BT Super for Life 2,404 Australia Pension 19
10 Aviva 563,130 UK Pension 79
1 Local Government Super 6,489 Pension 1
2 VicSuper 10,316 Pension 4
3 AustralianSuper 50,600 Pension 6
4 BT Super for Life 2,404 Pension 8
5 CareSuper 7,293 Pension 2
6 Cbus Super 21,465 Pension 3
7 National Australia Bank/MLC Wealth 43,054 Pension 19
8 National Australia Bank Group Superannuation Fund 2,685 Pension 17
9 National Australia Bank Group Plum Superannuation 15,500 Pension -
10 AMP 44,698 Pension 12
0807
8. Now that you get the idea of how important your involvement with your super is -
beyond serving as a nest egg for old age - there are two key things to understand
if you want to make a difference.
CAN ANYTHING
BE DONE?
Retirement savings are uniquely required to be managed for the long-term interests of fund members
– that is you and me. The managers of our funds, superannuation trustees, have a direct fiduciary duty
to us as members/beneficiaries. For the purposes of this report, we believe that this means that if fund
members ask their funds for certain information, it has to be provided. In our view this is also means
that trustees ought to manage your superannuation investments for your longer term interests.
Fiduciary duty
The amount of capital that needs to be shifted away from carbon-intensive industries to cleaner ones
is large but manageable. Of the $30 trillion held under management by retirement savings funds,
less than 2 per cent is invested in low-carbon solutions.29
If we can encourage superannuation funds
to shift even a small additional proportion of their money to low-carbon assets, it is possible to
see billions of dollars redirected, creating a tipping point and ushering in a sustainable, low-carbon
economy. By engaging with your super fund, you can become a part of a quiet revolution underway in
capitalism: the emergence of the citizen investor and the civil economy.
The tipping point
“What is my fund
actually invested in?”
“What percentage is
invested in high-carbon
assets?”
“What percentage is
invested in low-carbon
assets?”
“How are you
managing climate
risk on my behalf?”
“Is my fund looking
after my long-term
interests?”
“Hello?!?
Anyone there?” A 5% tipping point
of $3 trillion can usher in
the low-carbon economy.
High-carbon 12%
of total portfolio by 2030
$8-15 trillion of total
long-term global assets.
Low-carbon currently 1.6%
less than $1 trillion of
total long-term global assets.
1.6%
12%
5%
IF WE CAN ENCOURAGE SUPERANNUATION FUNDS TO SHIFT
EVEN A SMALL ADDITIONAL PROPORTION OF THEIR MONEY
TO LOW-CARBON ASSETS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO SEE BILLIONS
OF DOLLARS REDIRECTED, CREATING A TIPPING POINT AND
USHERING IN A SUSTAINABLE, LOW-CARBON ECONOMY.
1009
9. THE CIVIL
ECONOMY
Examples of citizen calls for corporate responsibility
date as far back as the 1600s when Amsterdam’s
religious groups boycotted the Dutch East India
Company over the use of violence in its trading
operations.32
The history book of corporate campaigns
has thickened since then, driven by the faith, union,
environmental, and anti-apartheid movements.
But recent activism in the pension industry is part
of the global democratisation of capital ownership33
.
It is early days but some investment funds have
already begun demolishing old rules and habits,
laying the groundwork for a new “constitution
of commerce” - or civil economy – one in which
investors, corporate executives, information providers,
civic lobbies, political parties, unions, religious
institutions and involved citizens all play a role.
As everyday people get a bigger say in investment
decisions, they also help drive good long-term
financial management.
Already this pressure is delivering results, especially
when it comes to a push for corporate transparency.
Separate from the superannuation landscape, Britain,
for instance, has introduced laws giving shareholders
a binding vote on executive pay34
and more and more
information about corporate executives is making its
way into the public domain.35
Shareholder voting is also on the rise36
and when
people get involved, change comes. For instance,
in the United States the Council of Institutional
Investors is petitioning the Nasdaq Stock Market
to require directors who are not elected by majority
support to resign and not be reappointed.37
Importantly, citizen involvement is paying off
for companies. Recent studies suggest that firms
responding to the civil economy perform better
financially.38
In Australia, responsible investment
funds have outperformed mainstream funds over the
past decade.39
Accountable Government
+ Constitution
+ Elections
+ Limitation of powers
Informed Electors
+ Voters understand and able to
choose between coherent political
programs at elections
Independent Monitors
+ Free press, independent judiciary
+ Independent statistics,
freedom of information
Credible Standards
+ Relevant and independent
statistics and other ways to
measure performance
Civil Society Organisations
+ Freedom within the law and the
constitution to campaign to change
government policy
+ Acceptance of the right of others to
scrutinise background and motivation
of any such action
Accountable Corporations
+ Constitution of board (i.e. board charter)
+ Election of boards
+ Powers of executive limited
Engaged Shareowners
+ Owners’ fiduciaries (e.g. fund managers)
informed, skilled, and appropriately engaged
with the companies they invest in
Independent Monitors
+ Fully independent annual audit giving
information owners need
+ Voting advisory services, remuneration
consultancies transparent and unconflicted
Credible Standards
+ Relevant and independent
statistics and other ways to
measure performance
Civil Economy Organisations
+ Freedom within the law to campaign
to change company policy
+ Acceptance of the right of others to
scrutinise background and motivation
of any such action
Comparison between institutions of a civil society and a civil economy
Civil Society Civil Economy30
AS INDIVIDUALS PLACE INCREASING PRESSURE ON CORPORATE
DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVES TO ACCOUNT FOR THE WIDER
IMPACTS OF THEIR DECISIONS, THE PROPER GOVERNANCE
OF COMPANIES WILL BECOME AS CRUCIAL TO THE WORLD
ECONOMY AS THE PROPER GOVERNING OF COUNTRIES.31
FORMER WORLD BANK PRESIDENT JAMES WOLFENSOHN
1211
10. ARE YOU
THE VITAL FEW?
In many cases, to see change a big push is
required. But when it comes to getting your super
to respond, it may not take much. That’s because
even though a fund may represent thousands
of people, even one member asking a question
requires a proper response.
Pension funds should invest members’ money
in the members’ best interests. But members
are fast realising that their funds’ interpretation
of best interests may not align with their own,
particularly where climate change is concerned.40
A recent survey found that a quarter of Australians
would switch funds if they discovered their
retirement savings were being invested in fossil
fuel companies.41
But walking away shouldn’t be
their first option.
In a world-first experiment, the power of the few
is being tested by The Vital Few campaign.42
The campaign draws its name from the Pareto
principle, whereby 80 per cent of results are
driven by 20 per cent of the causes.
The Vital Few campaign believes that citizen
investors deserve to know where their money
is being invested. They also have a right to
request that their funds invest in a way that
doesn’t compromise their pockets, or the planet.
The Vital Few enables members to pose those
questions to their funds directly, through an
online platform and just a few clicks.
Since the campaign was launched in late 2012,
its membership has surpassed 1,300 retirement
fund members, mostly in the pilot regions of
Australia, the UK and Canada. This membership
base represents upwards of 200 of the world’s
largest funds.
Early findings from the pilot activities show that funds
are more likely to provide detailed disclosure when
pushed by civil society. Therefore, the campaign has
not only shown members that they have financial power
but has elevated the issue of climate change risk up the
chain of command at major funds. It has revealed that
for the most part, funds are not adequately prepared
for climate risks and are not prepared to defend their
inaction on climate change. But they do understand
their requirement to respond to members’ questions.
Funds are sensitive to public opinion and care about
how they are perceived. This makes them vulnerable
to their members’ opinions, which in turn empowers
fund members. Thus, the world’s single largest pool
of wealth could be shifted away from being a
driver of climate change, to being a provider
of climate solutions.
SEND YOUR
JOIN THE VITAL FEW
EST.2012
LETTER
WWW.AREYOUTHEVITALFEW.ORG
13 14
11. REWARD
THE LEADERS
EXPOSE
THE LAGGARDS
Large investors do not change practices very often.
In fact, little data was even understood about how
investment decisions are made before the advent
of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Since 2003,
the CDP has asked the world’s largest companies
to provide information on their emissions and
emissions reduction strategy.
Today legislation is emerging worldwide forcing
companies to disclose their position.43
In Australia
this is already the case through the National
Greenhouse Energy Reporting (NGER) Act legislated
by the Howard Government in 2007.
Based on our research, some of the information
companies have to disclose is around their carbon
pricing assumptions. Many carbon intensive
companies invest their shareholders’ money into
very long-term assets – up to 40 years in some
cases. In the life of those assets an inevitable and
significant high-carbon price may make many of
these investments marginal and companies should
be pricing this into their investments now.
Most companies are already aware44
of the material risk
to their business in the future, and thus their future
share price, that climate change represents and many
have assumed or shadow carbon prices guiding their
long-term decision making. But many fail to disclose this
information to the market or prefer to ignore the issue.
Shareholders and regulators around the world
consider this information material. For instance the US’
Securities and Exchange Commission has made such
disclosure mandatory,45
while the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange and other major stock exchanges have
designed extensive disclosure guidelines.46
Apart from the NGER requirements to report
greenhouse gas emissions, there are no explicit
regulatory requirements relating to the disclosure of
climate change related issues in Australia.47
However enactment of legislation like the carbon laws,
which price and limit carbon, should by extension
imply that businesses of all sorts take a closer look
at their practices. Users of financial statements of
companies in carbon-exposed industries need to be
able to ascertain the risks they are facing as investors.
Likewise regulatory bodies should be looking closely
at disclosures and reporting requirements around how
these risks are presented.48
15
12. WHAT DO YOU
THINK ABOUT
SUPERANNUATION?
RODOLFO KEY SAMANTHA LEECHRISTOPHER THE LUCY PHELAN
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU
THINK OF SUPERANNUATION?
49
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU
THINK OF SUPERANNUATION?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU
THINK OF SUPERANNUATION?
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THERE ARE ACTIONS
YOU CAN TAKE IN THAT CONTEXT, WOULD YOU
PURSUE ANY OF THEM?
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THERE ARE ACTIONS
YOU CAN TAKE IN THAT CONTEXT, WOULD YOU
PURSUE ANY OF THEM?
DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT SUPERANNUATION
IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
- EITHER AS A THREAT OR AS A WAY OF
INVESTING IN LOW-CARBON SOLUTIONS?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU
THINK OF SUPERANNUATION?
It’s the fall back position for most Australians,
but I am not relying on mine to pay for all of my
retirement.
Possibly yes. But I’d mostly want something safe as
an investment. So I would have to research it.
Yes I think it would be interesting to see how climate
change would affect the value of any portfolio
and then how investment decisions would affect the
viability of clean energy outcomes.
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THERE ARE ACTIONS
YOU CAN TAKE IN THAT CONTEXT, WOULD YOU
PURSUE ANY OF THEM?
Yes, probably.
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THERE ARE ACTIONS
YOU CAN TAKE IN THAT CONTEXT, WOULD YOU
PURSUE ANY OF THEM?
It’s complicated because I think that shifting
super seems like quite a big task. I’m just thinking
practically, but it would have to be a very climate-
minded individual to change for those reasons.
Never thought of it that way.
DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT SUPERANNUATION
IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
- EITHER AS A THREAT OR AS A WAY OF
INVESTING IN LOW-CARBON SOLUTIONS?
DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT SUPERANNUATION
IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
- EITHER AS A THREAT OR AS A WAY OF
INVESTING IN LOW-CARBON SOLUTIONS?
DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT SUPERANNUATION
IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
- EITHER AS A THREAT OR AS A WAY OF
INVESTING IN LOW-CARBON SOLUTIONS?
I’ve never related the two topics.I’ve thought about it in regards to insurance.
But yes, generally I have wondered where my
money is being invested.
I do think about super and how your money is
invested in a whole range of things that you don’t
have any idea about … so it would be good to
know what happens to that money and if you can
redirect it to something else if you want to.
Secure retirement.Future security. Investing in the share market and hoping to get
some payment when you’re a bit older.
´
1817
13. You have checked how your fund
ranks on the AODP index and you
have asked your fund for more
information. If you are still unhappy,
have a chat to your financial advisor,
and move to a fund that is more
representative of your values.
Get to know your fund and what they
are like. Which one is your fund?
You can get directly involved with helping to
drive disclosure of carbon risk exposure and
super funds’ carbon pricing assumptions.
Through The Vital Few you can participate
in a grassroots pressure push to get
superannuation funds thinking.
Other initiatives in this space include the fossil
fuels divestment campaign run by 350.org that
has been stoking up the pressure on retirement
and endowment funds, mostly in the US and
Europe but also here in Australia.
An October 2013 report by Oxford University
report50
compares the fossil fuel divestment
campaign with those against tobacco,
apartheid in South Africa, armaments, gambling
and pornography and finds that the newest
movement is growing faster its predecessors.
It concludes that the direct financial impact of
such campaigns on share prices or the ability
to raise funds is small but the reputational
damage, or stigmatisation, poses a far greater
risk in the long-term.51
You can also check up on and even change your
superfund, if you don’t like the practices of your
current one.
Initiatives like the AODP have been surveying
Australia’s largest funds since 2009 in the areas of
Transparency, Risk Management, Investment Chain
Alignment, Active Ownership and Low-Carbon
Investment.
Last year the AODP went global for the first time,
extending the survey to the world’s largest 1,000
asset owners - a mix of superannuation and
retirement savings funds as well as insurance and
sovereign wealth funds - all of which should have
long-term outcomes as their priority.
Australian funds, perhaps because they now have
a few years of experience with the AODP survey,
ranked relatively well on the first two global efforts.
(See page 07 for AODP results).
Leaders have a higher instance of walking the
talk – putting their money where their mouth is and
investing in low-carbon investment opportunities –
as well as more frequently and publicly exercising
their voting rights as shareholders and having a
better grasp on how to monitor their exposure to
climate change related impacts.
Old fashioned lobbying of local politicians
may seem outdated. But the practice is still
there, in fact made easier by social media
tools and email.
An ask you should be putting to your local
Member of Parliament (MP) is to ensure that
regulations are in place to require funds to
measure, disclose and manage the climate
change risks their investments are exposed to.
As a Harvard Business School study on
the topic found, “what gets measured gets
managed.52
”
More broadly, you can write or call your
MP and pose the question of what is being
done to address climate change, or how your
MP is ensuring that your nest egg savings will
be there for you when you need them.
WHAT ARE YOUR
ACTION OPTIONS?
Fixated on fossil
fuels, this fund is so
besotted by the allure
of short-term returns
they deliberately
avoid any dialogue
about the danger of
high-risk, high-carbon
investments.
Adopting the
herd mentality of
resistance, this
fund is sitting on
the fence waiting
for another fund to
make the first move.
Cleverly using green
wash techniques, such
as their commitment
to ESG (environmental,
social and governance)
this fund is distracting
your attention from the
real material issues.
While politely
acknowledging
the importance of
climate risk and
recognising your
serious personal
concerns this
fund conveniently
fails to take any
responsibility for
the solution.
DODGER
STALLER
TRICKSTER
PLEASER
LEADER
01
Fully engaged
with evolving their
investment process
to incorporate
climate risk this fund
is seeking new and
innovative ways to
gain high returns,
without compromising
future prosperity,
both financial and
environmental.
ENGAGE
LOBBY
Educate yourself about your retirement savings
and their relationship to climate change.
Reading this report and considering your own
situation constitutes a good start.
LEARN
COMPARE
MOVE
2019
14. I knew we were in trouble when a leader in the
Australian financial services sector told us
“in our business mate, ninety seconds is a f#@!ing
eternity.” We’d met him to discuss our efforts
to re-prioritise long-term interests in the over
$1 trillion superannuation industry.
Since 2007 The Climate Institute has “followed the
money” back up the investment chain tracking the
basis for investment decisions in high-carbon assets
like coal power stations, coal mines and more.
In Australia over $1.6 trillion, more than Australia’s
annual GDP, is held in superannuation funds whose
legal purpose is to manage funds for our long-term
interests – our retirement.
With an average life of 20 years for superannuation
accounts, we’ve wanted to understand how these
funds are managed and to what extent longer term
risks – like the implications of accelerating climate
change, and potential responses to it – were factored in.
How do superannuation trustees, to whom we entrust
management of our retirement nest egg, analyse and
embed such considerations through the links in the
investment chain? This is a chain that extends from your
money to the trustees, to fund managers,
and to market traders such as our friend above.
Days before the 2007 Federal election, we hosted
a meeting of leaders in the superannuation industry
and it was clear that there was at best an emerging
awareness of these issues.
Reflecting on the discussion one participant said
a bit quietly, “it’s true - we own the coal lobby.”
It was an exciting moment, full of potential.
Yet subsequent years have shown the challenges
of moving the managers of our retirement funds
from awareness, to asking questions, to taking
action in their investment decisions.
In those early years, The Climate Institute teamed up
with the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees
to conduct groundbreaking surveys of the managers
of Australian superannuation funds in what we called
the Asset Owners Disclosure Project (AODP).
There were positive stories of funds asking more
questions of emission reduction strategies of
companies and some investment action in climate
solutions. However, the reality is that most investment
action is dominated by the market traders, short-term
returns and a group-think that sees superannuation
funds huddling closely around index performance
measured mostly on quarterly performance.
Because of this dominance of short-termism, many of
us are accidental investors in businesses that care little
for the medium or long-term, with funds investing on
average around 2 per cent of funds under management
in low-carbon solutions. As the head of the OECD
noted recently, over 55 per cent of investments are in
high-carbon or climate exposed investments.
The challenge of engaging longer-term thinking reveals,
yet again, that while climate change is a threat multiplier,
climate action can be a solutions multiplier.
As we posed questions about the chronic short-termism
from a climate perspective, we realised that we were
joining many others raising similar questions on issues
from environment, health, worker conditions and
poverty perspectives.
We also realised that we were joining a tradition
of citizen calls for corporate responsibility dating as
far back as the 1600s when Amsterdam’s religious
groups boycotted the Dutch East India Company
over the use of violence in its trading operations.
The history book of corporate campaigns has
thickened since then, driven by the faith, union,
environmental, and anti-apartheid movements.
But recent activism in the superannuation industry
is part of an even more exciting and profound
development that has arisen with the tremendous
growth in scale and influence of the global pool of
monies invested on behalf of citizens for long-term
benefits. These include superannuation and insurance
funds, but also include sovereign wealth funds
established by governments to manage taxpayer funds
for the longer term such as Australia’s own Future Fund.
These funds have become what are called “universal
owners”, investing across all asset classes from
infrastructure, to health to agriculture to property. Old time
financial barons such as the Rockefellers could privatise
the gains in selective investments like polluting industries,
but socialise the losses caring little for consequences
elsewhere. There are still a number of these barons
around but these funds have skin in the game on good
governance and longer term sustainability across all parts
of the economy.
Together, these funds have moved from about 15 per
cent of global share markets in 1995 to over 50 per cent
now. With around $60 trillion under management, they
represent the largest pool of capital available today.
They can be immensely powerful if what has been
called the global democratisation of capital ownership or
the rise of the citizen investor can reap its full potential.
It is early days but some funds have already begun
demolishing old rules and habits, laying the
groundwork for a new “constitution of commerce” -
or civil economy – one in which investors, corporate
executives, information providers, civic lobbies, political
parties, unions, religious institutions and involved
citizens all play a role.
There are plenty of hurdles ahead but you and I
can put an end to the days of being an accidental
investor not only by understanding more about how
our superannuation funds are managed, but also by
actively engaging in their management.
This report has been prepared to give you some of
the results from the latest AODP survey, now a global
initiative looking at the world’s 1,000 largest funds.
We also provide information about how you can take
greater action exercising your rights as fund members
and what is called the fiduciary duty to you of the
trustees of your superannuation money.
The report provides tips for those who want their
funds to invest more in low-carbon climate solutions
or to divest from the high-carbon investments that are
putting our climate, and future, at risk.
Lifting our gaze from the market traders screen
reveals that too much of our retirement funds are
invested in high-carbon, high-risk investments
resting on a speculative bubble of climate denial,
indifference or delay. Acting together as citizen
investors we can help create an investment tipping
point in low-carbon, climate solutions. We hope this
report helps in that endeavour.
John Connor CEO
AFTERWORD
2221
15. 1 Baker McKenzie, Pension and Superannuation
Trustees and Climate Change Report, 2012,http://
www.bakermckenzie.com/files/Uploads/Documents/
Superannuation%20Trustees%20and%20Climate%20
Change%20Report%20-%20reduced%20file%20size.pdf.
2 The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia,
Superannuation Statistics, November 2013, http://www.
superannuation.asn.au/resources/superannuation-statistics
3 KPMG, Evolving Superannuation Industry Trends, 2012,
http://www.kpmg.com/au/en/issuesandinsights/articlespub
lications/pages/evolving-superannuation-industry-trends.aspx
4 S. Davis, J. Lukomnik and D. Pitt-Watson. The New
Capitalists: How Citizen Investors are Reshaping the
Corporate Agenda. Harvard Business School Press, 2006.
5 REST Industry Super, Home Ownership and Superannuation
White Paper, 2011, http://www.rest.com.au/getdoc/
e9d1fffa-5e49-4979-9546-b7600040b33d/REST-Industry-
Super-Home-Ownership-and-Superannuat
6 The Climate Institute, Coming Ready or Not, 2012,
http://climateinstitute.org.au/verve/_resources/
TCI_ComingReadyorNot_ClimateRiskstoInfrastructure_
October2012.pdf
7 The Climate Institute, Infrastructure Interdependencies
and Business-Level Impacts: A new approach
to climate risk assessment, 2013, http://www.
climateinstitute.org.au/verve/_resources/TCI_
InfrastructureInterdependenciesReport_April2013.pdf
8 The Climate Institute, A Climate of Suffering: The real
costs of living with inaction on climate change, 2011,
http://climateinstitute.org.au/verve/_resources/tci_
aclimateofsuffering_august2011_web.pdf
9 Insurance Council of Australia, Submission to the
Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Regulatory and
Policy Barriers to Effective Climate Change Adaptation, 16
December 2011, http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/
pdf_file/0016/114532/sub042.pdf
10 DARA, Climate Vulnerability Monitor, 2010,
http://daraint.org/climate-vulnerability-monitor/
11 R. Garnaut, Garnaut Climate Change Review, 2011,
http://www.garnautreview.org.au/
12 Mercer, Climate Change Scenarios –
Implications for Strategic Asset Allocation, 2011,
http://www.mercer.com/climatechange
13 The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and The
Climate Institute, Funds Survey Results March 2011, 2011
14 The Climate Institute, Media Brief: Climate Risks Around
Australia, 2013, http://climateinstitute.org.au/verve/_
resources/TCI_MediaBrief_IPCC_September2013.pdf
15 G. Parkinson, HSBC: Australian economy badly exposed to
climate, Renew Economy, 25 September 2013,
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/hsbc-australian-
economy-badly-exposed-to-climate-56343
16 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, Summary of the UNFCCC Climate Change
Conference in Doha, 26 November 2012, http://www.
undpcc.org/docs/UNFCCC%20negotiations/UNDP%20
Summaries/2012_12%20December%20Doha/UNDP%20
COP18%20summary.pdf
17 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working
Group I Contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report
Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, 2013,
http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/#.UnGtcpS4aUk
18 Carbon Tracker Initiative, Unburnable Carbon – Are the
world’s financial markets carrying a carbon bubble, 2011,
http://www.carbontracker.org
19 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Op Cit.
20 Carbon Tracker Initiative and The Climate Institute,
Unburnable Carbon: Australia’s carbon bubble, 2012,
http://climateinstitute.org.au/verve/_resources/
Unburnable_Carbon_Australias_Carbon_Bubble_
finalreport.pdf
21 Carbon Tracker Initiative and The Climate Institute, Op Cit.
22 A. Gurría, OECD, Speech, 9 October 2013,
http://www.oecd.org/env/countries-should-make-carbon-
pricing-the-cornerstone-of-climate-policy-says-oecd.htm
23 Asset Owners Disclosure Project, 2013,
http://www.aodproject.net
24 Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Annual
Superannuation Bulletin, June 2011, http://www.apra.gov.
au/Super/Publications/Documents/June%202011%20
Annual%20Superannuation%20Bulletin.pdf
25 International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook,
October 2012, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/
weo/2012/02/pdf/text.pdf
26 Citi Research Commodities, The Unimaginable: Peak Coal
in China, September 2013, https://ir.citi.com/Stak2GDMg
%2F6ptgj2CHXicr7Lurxzvhvwi8xvfURG069IbxgG4YatmQ
%3D%3D
27 E. Petroff, Who Is To Blame For The Subprime
Crisis?, Investorpedia, 26 February 2009, http://www.
investopedia.com/articles/07/subprime-blame.asp
28 A. Gurría, Op Cit.
29 Deutsche Asset Wealth Management, Investing in
Climate Change 2010: A Strategic Asset Allocation
Perspective, 2010, http://www.dbcca.com/dbcca/EN/
30 S. Davis et al., Op Cit.
31 J. Wolfensohn, The World in 1999, The Economist , 1999.
32 E. Stringham, Extralegal Development of Securities Trading
in Seventeenth Century Amsterdam, Quarterly Review of
Economics and Finance: 2013. 43(2): 321-344.
33 S. Davis et al., Op Cit.
34 BBC, New executive pay rules give shareholders binding
vote, 1 October 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
business-24344418
35 Examples of firms providing such information include
BoardEx, Governance Metrics International, Institutional
Shareholder Services and The Corporate Library.
36 In Britain for example, companies report voting levels at 56
per cent as compared to 20 per cent in 1990 (S. Davis et al.).
37 Council for Institutional Investors, Majority Voting for
Directors, 2013, http://www.cii.org/majority_voting_directors
38 L. Brown and M. Caylor, Corporate Governance and Firm
Performance, HIP Investor (2013), Resilient Portfolios and
Fossil Free Pensions; Carbon Disclosure Project (2011),
Confronting Climate Risk: Business Investment and
the Carbon Disclosure Project, Environmental Finance,
October: S4.
39 Responsible Investment Association Australasia, 2013
Responsible Investment Benchmark Report, 2013,
http://www.responsibleinvestment.org/wp-content/
uploads/2013/07/2013-Benchmark-Report.pdf
40 R. Denniss, Time to get engaged with super?, The Australia
Institute, March 2013, http://www.tai.org.au/node/1954
41 R. Denniss, Op Cit.
42 The Vital Few, 2013, http://www.areyouthevitalfew.org/
43 Carbon Disclosure Project, 2013, https://www.cdproject.net
44 J. West and D. Brereton, Climate change adaptation in
industry and business: A framework for best practice in
financial risk assessment, governance and disclosure,
NCCARF, 2013, http://www.nccarf.edu.au/sites/default/
files/attached_files_publications/West_2013_Climate_
change_adaptation_industry_and_business.pdf
45 United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Media
Release: SEC Issues Interpretive Guidance on Disclosure
Related to Business or Legal Developments Regarding
Climate Change, 27 January 2010, http://www.sec.gov/
news/press/2010/2010-15.htm
46 World Federation of Exchanges, Exchanges and
Sustainable Investment: Markets for environmentally
sustainable and socially responsible investment, 2009,
http://www.world-exchanges.org
47 ASX-listed companies are required to comply with ASX
continuous disclosure requirements under Listing Rule 3.1
and the Commentary on Principle 7 Risk Oversight and
Management of the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s
Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations,
but these requirements currently contain no explicit
reference to climate change risk.
48 Citi Research Commodities, Op Cit.
49 In June, our staff and photographer Michael Hall interviewed
passers by in Newtown and Hyde Park in Sydney, about
various climate change issues. These individuals were
photographed at that time, and questions asked in relation to
the topic of this report were posed subsequently by phone.
50 A. Ansar, B. Caldecott and J. Tilbury, Stranded assets and
the fossil fuel divestment campaign: what does divestment
mean for the valuation of fossil fuel assets?, 2013, Smith
School of Enterprise and the Environment: University
of Oxford, http://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/research/
stranded-assets/SAP-divestment-report-final.pdf
51 D. Carrington, Campaign against fossil fuels growing,
says study, The Guardian, 8 October 2013,
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/08/
campaign-against-fossil-fuel-growing
52 Harvard Business School, The Landscape of Integrated
Reporting: Reflections and Next Steps 2010, pg 294,
19 November 2010.
NOTES
2423
16. Key imagery in this booklet has been photographed by Michael Hall,
Creative Fellow at The Climate Institute.
We would also like to acknowledge the support of Michael and Silvia
Kantor and the Nelson Meers Foundation towards this Creative Fellowship.
Platform + Design GLIDER
The
Climate
Institute
White no background below
IN COLLABORATION WITH
Poola Charitable Foundation
Tom Kantor Fund
PROJECT CONDUCTED WITH SUPPORT FROM
Dara Fund No. 2
E.M. Horton Family Fund
Hamer Sprout Fund
Sub-funds of the Australian Communities Foundation
This guide is directed at those citizens who are members of traditional superannuation funds.
But not everyone in Australia saves for retirement this way.
Almost one-third of Australia’s superannuation pool is held in self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).
If you have a self-managed fun, how can you manage climate change risk?
+ If you are invested in pooled funds…
Contact the fund managers to find out what the funds are invested in. If you’re looking for a pooled
fund, see the list of service providers certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia.
www.responsibleinvestment.org
+ If you are invested in shares directly…
Check out the Carbon Disclosure Project for details on
how the world’s largest companies are managing risks associated with carbon.
www.cdpoject.net
+ If you are invested in property…
Improve your property’s energy efficiency and use of materials.
Find out more at the Green Building Council of Australia www.gbca.org.au and get familiar with
the National Australian Built Environment Rating System
www.nabers.gov.au
+ If you are invested in cash…
Find out whether or not your bank is financing projects you may not be very comfortable with
and consider asking them to change their practice
www.marketforces.org.au/banks
DOING IT
YOURSELF?
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The Climate Institute
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+61 2 8239 6299
info@climateinstitute.org.au
www.climateinstituate.org.au
Now more than ever, we need your help
to build public awareness and support for climate
and carbon action. Support our Carbon Crunch Appeal
and help ensure Australia’s zero-carbon future.
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