The UK’s largest LGPS pool, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, has started a new just transition engagement programme. Colin Baines, Stewardship Manager at Border to Coast, managing £50 billion (US$65 billion) in assets, said: “For institutional investors, contributing to a just transition offers a way of reducing systemic risks, realising fiduciary duties, identifying material value drivers, and generating positive social impacts.” Border to Coast’s just transition engagement programme includes three strands. The first strand is piloting engagement with an un-named emerging market energy utility. Border to Coast is also joining other institutional investors in the Financing a Just Transition Alliance, co-ordinated by the London School of Economics Grantham Institute and joining Royal London Asset Management to engage banks. The engagement focus with banks will be material decarbonisation challenges for UK banks and how these can be approached considering social risks and opportunities, such as decarbonising housing and mortgage lending books.
