$11.5 trillion investors' group calls for European utilities to end coal use by 2030

A group of 95 investors organized as the “Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change” has issued an open letter to European power companies on December 19, 2018, asking firms to demonstrate they are implementing business strategies aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The investors participating in the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change collectively have $11.5 trillion in assets under management or advise; 20 of the 95 signatories each have over $200 billion in assets under management, including Aberdeen Standard Investments, BNP Paribas Asset Management, DWS, Legal and General Investment Management, Nordea Group and M&G. Other signatories include the California Public Employees' Retirement System, California State Teachers' Retirement System, New York City Comptroller’s Office, and New York State Common Retirement Fund.

Citing the United Nations IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C issued on October 8, 2018, the investors cite the risks to global markets and investments from 2 °C or higher temperature rises as “potentially catastrophic.” The IPCC report found that a number of climate change impacts could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5 °C compared to 2 °C or more. But the report also noted that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. In particular, the IPCC report concluded that to limit warming to 1.5 °C would require net global human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching "net zero" around 2050. 

The group demands that power generators, grid operators and distributors “plan for their future in a net-zero carbon economy.” Specifically, they request companies to publish transition plans consistent with the goal of the Paris Agreement; develop explicit timelines and commitments for the rapid elimination of coal use by utilities in EU and OECD countries by no later than 2030; and support the development of “ambitious climate policy aligned with the Paris Agreement” directly and through their trade associations.