Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) says it has reinforced its climate engagement and stewardship policy with a series of climate commitments, including exclusions for oil and gas companies that fail to meet certain objectives.
The firm said that from 2022, it will apply a “climate lens” to its investment decisions and will adopt four different approaches when looking at high impact companies and issuers. These include so-called ‘climate leaders’ and ‘transition leaders’.
But the firm also said it will engage with climate laggards until 2025 and divesting if progress on net zero is not made. The firm says it will apply a “three strikes and you’re out” principle to these firms. Capital that is divested from companies failing to meet net zero targets will instead be invested in climate and transition leaders.
In addition to the climate engagement and stewardship policy, Axa IM has also published an investment policy on the oil and gas sector which will be implemented in early 2022.
Axa IM also plans to make further investments into green assets and to reduce CO2 emissions of direct real estate per square meter by 20% by 2025, and ensure 50% of direct real estate assets are aligned with 1.5°C by 2025.
Marco Morelli, executive chairman of Axa IM, said: “We must all play our part in the transition to a low-carbon world, and we are proud to announce these updates to our climate commitments during the World Climate Summit, the Investment COP.”
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