| Legal & General briefs clients in Dublin on climate change |
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| 26th November 2019: Legal & General Investment Managers (LGIM) , which became the first fund manager to receive a Brexit-related Super Manco authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland in May 2018, has emphasised its group wide commitment to become an industry leader in tackling the challenge of climate change. Speaking to Finance Dublin ahead of the client briefing, L&G group Chief Investment Officer Sonja Laud described a change in mindset on climate change that was needed for asset managers to comprehend. |
Two of its leading experts in the field – the recently appointed L&G group Chief Investment Officer Sonja Laud and LGIM’s Head of Commodity Research, Nick Stansbury, spoke in Dublin today at a seminar for clients outlining exactly why they consider this positioning on climate change to be essential.
Speaking to Finance Dublin ahead of the client briefing, Laud said L&G as a group had committed to building out its analytical expertise in order to fully understand the investment implications inherent in climate change. Working with Baringa Partners it had reached some ‘exciting but terrifying conclusions’. Even on the most optimistic assessment a rise in average temperatures of 4 degrees centigrade was likely by the early 2030s, 'with catastrophic outcomes'.
Detailing some of the findings, Stansbury said the likely outcome was ‘genuinely terrifying,’ with large scale displacements of populations as parts of the world, including parts of India and the Middle East, became uninhabitable. This had important implications for a wide range of industries, particularly in the energy sector.
Limiting the damage would require, for example, a switch from existing fossil fuels to renewables at a much faster rate of change than had ever been seen before between fuel types and for this to happen at a time of rapidly increasing energy demand in China and India.
The asset management industry had an important role to play in addressing the challenge, using its influence on industry on behalf of both passive as well as active investors to drive change.
As an investment manager, Laud added, L&G saw its role in terms of risk mitigation and identification of opportunities. One of the fundamental shifts in approach was a change in mindset from a focus on shareholder to broader stakeholder value, which included social and environmental aspects, Laud said. |
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