Allianz insurance wants to become more climate-friendly
Photo: DPA
The insurance company Allianz is promising more climate-friendly investments: The greenhouse gas emissions of its 800 billion investments are to fall by a quarter by 2025, Allianz investment board member Günther Thallinger announced on Thursday.
The new goal is one of the projects of the “Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance”, an association of now 33 large international capital investors who together manage five trillion euros.
Munich Re and the Swiss insurers Zurich and Swiss Re are also involved in the initiative.
For years, the financial sector has been under pressure from environmental initiatives around the world to use its market power for climate protection.
Only recently had it emerged that the alliance was still investing in companies that, for example, want to develop large-scale oil and gas in Suriname or build new coal-fired power plants in China.
Bring "On a 1.5 Degree Path"
Regarding Allianz's plans, Thallinger said: “This initially applies to certain asset classes: listed stocks and corporate bonds.
The real estate portfolio will also be brought to a 1.5 degree path by 2025. «This relates to the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2050.
»Further asset classes are in preparation.
In this way, we will gradually cover our entire 800 billion euros capital investments from the insurance business. "
To reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, finance firms want to use their leverage over the companies whose papers they hold.
"With this voluntary commitment, we have the credibility to approach companies to discuss reducing their emissions with them," said Thallinger.
Yield should not suffer
The reason for starting with stocks, corporate bonds and real estate is given: These three asset classes currently have significantly better data on emissions than other asset classes.
So far, the climate plan does not include the even higher sums that customers have invested with the two Allianz asset managers AGI and Pimco.
The return should not suffer: "We believe that the risk-return profile clearly improves if the issue of sustainability is taken into account as extensively as possible in investment decisions," said Thallinger.
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