The University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Endowment Fund, the UBC Investment Management Trust (IMANT) has committed $120M to seed a Paris Aligned Reduced Carbon Global Equity fund.
This is in addition to their $110M funding of the Sustainable Global Opportunities Strategy that was announced in March.
UBC IMANT has partnered with Arrowstreet Capital to select MSCI’s Paris Aligned Index as the benchmark for their portfolio construction. Their seed in this investment accounts for about five percent of UBC’s Endowment. Their ‘Responsible Investing Strategy’ is committed to a low carbon, sustainable future, to reduce their carbon portfolio by 45% in 10 years.
As other companies follow UBC’s lead, many hope to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Some are finding ways to do so through carbon offsets. This is especially true as regulations from the Paris Agreement get closer – with many just a few short years away. Countless nations have even recommitted their efforts to reduce carbon since they recognize they aren’t where they should be.
“This significant investment demonstrates UBC IMANT’s targeted and ongoing approach to addressing the impacts of climate change,” says Yasir Mallick, Senior Portfolio Manager at UBC IMANT. “We are thankful to our investment partner for working with us to incorporate a carbon risk budget aligned with the 2015 Paris Climate agreement in their portfolio construction and optimization process.”
Dawn Jia, UBC IMANT’s President, and CEO said that “We seek out partners – both our peers and investment managers – that share this mindset and are willing to be innovative in tackling complex problems.”
When describing climate change, “complex” may be an understatement. Combating climate change is quite complex and challenging, to say the least!
The latest Groundswell report from the World Bank shows that mass migration due to climate change could start as early as 2030. And a recent announcement from the UN said that increases in the earth’s temperature would be “catastrophic.” Even top religious leaders have joined together to ask the world to take action.
Announcements, such as UBC’s, are what the world needs. To make an impact, all countries, companies, and individuals have to do their part. Slowly but surely, we are getting there.