The investments of the government’s four major funds are misaligned with Taiwan’s net zero carbon emissions goal, environmental groups said yesterday, calling for finance-related climate disclosures.
The Environmental Justice Foundation used indicators designed by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures and the CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, to analyze the Labor Pension Fund, Labor Insurance Fund, Public Service Pension Fund and the Postal Savings Fund, which have total assets of NT$15 trillion (US$474.61 billion), representatives from the foundation and other groups told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Analysts found that the funds failed to enact disclosures on carbon emissions related to investments in their portfolios, implement mechanisms to review the climate impact of their holdings, and create science-based, quantitative metrics to address climate issues at shareholders’ meetings, the groups said.
Photo: CNA
Such measures would enable the public to review the government’s investments and help the government mitigate financial risks related to climate change, they said.
The indicators rated the credibility of the four government funds’ climate transition plans at 33 to 43 percent, indicating that their net zero pledges are empty rhetoric, the groups said.
The funds’ investment policies and goals do not meet the government’s carbon reduction targets for 2030, 2032 and 2035, making it a challenge for the government to achieve its net zero goal by 2050, they said.
The government must acknowledge that climate change poses a serious risk to the nation’s development and economic security, and pass laws to hold state-run pension funds to the same sustainability standards as private enterprises, including an obligation not to make new investments in fossil fuels and industries with high emissions, they said.
The funds must establish targets and timelines to transition away from existing investments in the fossil fuel sector, the groups said.
Government-run pension funds must not blindly seek short-term profits, but recognize the dangers climate change poses to Taiwan, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Yueh-chin (林月琴) told the news conference.
The funds must disclose climate policy-related data, inventory their investments in high-polluting and fossil fuel companies, and draft a viable path to meet the government’s net zero carbon emissions targets, she said.
The plans must include tangible and concrete milestones that can be evaluated, Lin said.
Pensioners’ well-being would be served only if their funds’ investments are financially and environmentally sustainable, she said.
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