Delivering Net Zero: Interim Targets and Portfolio Decarbonization in Pension Funds
As the global transition toward net zero accelerates, pension funds are facing growing expectations to translate long-term climate commitments into concrete investment actions. With their significant influence over capital allocation, pension funds have an important role to play in supporting portfolio decarbonization and the broader energy transition. Yet achieving long-term net-zero goals requires credible interim targets, effective portfolio strategies, and clear policies to manage exposure to carbon-intensive sectors, particularly coal.
While many pension funds have made net-zero commitments, questions remain about how these ambitions translate into measurable progress and investment decisions. Setting and tracking interim targets, integrating climate considerations into portfolio management, and developing coal investment restriction policies present practical challenges. These challenges are further complicated by data limitations, differing national energy pathways, and varying regulatory and market conditions, raising questions about how pension funds can implement credible decarbonization strategies across different regional contexts.
This session will unpack how pension funds can move from long-term net-zero commitments to practical implementation through interim targets, portfolio decarbonization, and coal investment restriction policies. Bringing together perspectives from pension funds, asset managers, policymakers, researchers, and civil society, the discussion will focus on progress toward interim targets, the translation of climate commitments into investment and coal policies, and the practical challenges, lessons learned, and policy enablers needed to advance net-zero implementation across different markets.