Evli's new climate targets aim to make a real impact on investments, businesses and the industry. At the same time, the role of sustainability at Evli is being strengthened with the first ever appointment of the Head of Sustainability to the fund management company’s Board of Directors.
Evli sets a target to be net zero in terms of emissions from its own operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2025 at the latest and aims to halve the carbon emissions of its investments by 2030, provided that the investment environment allows for it. Evli aims to be a net zero asset manager by 2050 at the latest, both in terms of emissions from its own operations and from its investments.
"We are taking these steps to ensure that our operations are in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement target to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is very important to Evli and we want to take responsibility through concrete actions," says Outi Helenius, Evli's Head of Sustainability.
According to Helenius, Evli recognises that a credible long-term net zero target needs to be supported by sufficiently ambitious milestones based on the latest knowledge about climate change and the measures required to reduce emissions.
As a result, Evli sets the following milestones for its operations:
1) Evli aims to achieve carbon neutrality for emissions from its own operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2025 at the latest.
2) Evli sets an interim target of a 50% reduction in indirect emissions from investments by 2030, provided that the investment environment allows for it. It will be using 2019 as the base year.
3) Evli will establish a Working Committee for the years 2021-2022 in order to assess how the investment-related interim target can be reached through real world carbon emission reductions and to ensure that it will be in line with the Paris Agreement. In this assessment work, we will use, among others, a Science-Based Targets (SBT) framework.
"The global economy is still very carbon-intensive, which is why broadly diversified investment portfolios are still carbon-intensive. As wealth managers, we must also take into account our obligations to our clients and their individual investment objectives. It is undeniable that meeting the Paris Agreement targets requires immediate action to reduce emissions. We strongly believe that it is in the long-term interests of our clients to align our operations with international climate targets," adds Helenius.
Roadmap to a net zero asset manager
Evli has developed a roadmap for reaching its targets, according to which the development of targets and emissions is monitored and the practical alignment of the targets is reviewed at least every five years.
The roadmap for 2021-2025 is structured along the following lines:
- Building a snapshot
- Development of climate risk management
- Updating the exclusions
- Engagement
- Systematic analysis of targets
First appointment of Head of Sustainability to the fund management company board
The net zero target complements Evli's longstanding work on responsibility and climate issues. Evli has been awarded on several occasions for its expertise in responsible investing in independent client surveys in Finland. Evli has also made a concrete effort to the responsibility of its investment operations by recently appointing Outi Helenius, Head of Sustainability, to the Board of its fund management company.
"At Evli, sustainability is a genuine part of all our operations and we are constantly working to develop it. We believe that taking sustainability factors into account leads to better investment decisions for our clients. In addition, mitigating the climate crisis is an important issue for Evli and we want to be involved in supporting companies' transition to a low-carbon society. The election of Evli's Head of Sustainability to the fund management company's board creates even better opportunities for us to do this," states Maunu Lehtimäki, CEO of Evli.
"Responsible investment and selection processes have long been promoted in our funds, and the portfolio managers are actively involved in their development, which creates excellent conditions for the future. It is also essential that our clients receive complete and transparent information on the responsibility of the investments. Evli was the first in Finland to start extensive sustainability reporting on its funds and asset management client portfolios. Our sustainability reports are already the most comprehensive overviews of fund sustainability in the market and include a number of metrics related to climate change management," says Outi Helenius.
Read more about Evli’s climate targets
For more information:
Outi Helenius, Head of Sustainability, Evli Bank Plc, tel. +358 (0)40 720 6859, outi.helenius@evli.com
Additional information:
