South Africa’s Eskom Pension and Provident Fund has signed up to the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA). It becomes the third NZAOA signatory in the country, joining insurers ARC and Old Mutual, and is the fourth signatory from Africa. EPPF Chief Executive and Principal Officer Shafeeq Abrahams said: “We recognise that simply maintaining the status quo lacks the necessary urgency and impact. We believe in moving from sustaining to regenerating our environment and life on Earth.” The announcement follows the shock departure of the Church of England Pensions Board (CoEPB) from the NZAOA earlier this month, who decided it wanted to refine the number of climate initiatives it was part of. The CoEPB’s Chief Responsible Investment Officer Adam Matthews said on LinkedIn that the pension board’s decision “is in no way a criticism of the NZAOA initiative, but trying to ride two horses for a fund of our size didn’t make sense”.
