Global institutional funds manager IFM Investors infrastructure portfolio’s financed emissions represented over 3,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in FY2017, according to its 2018 Infrastructure Carbon Footprint Report.
Released yesterday, the report revealed that of this, 2,619,353 tonnes were from its global infrastructure portfolio and 540,702 tonnes from its Australian counterpart.
This represented a decline in carbon emissions intensity, meaning the tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per million dollars invested. For global infrastructure, there was a 16 per cent decrease in IFM’s carbon intensity, and for Australian infrastructure, there was a 13.6 per cent drop.
IFM Investors cited not just environmental concern but also the investment risk of climate change as key drivers of its push to reduce emissions, saying that its environmental, social and economic consequences could impact value of the short, medium and long-term.
“Setting reduction targets and being accountable to these targets is key to protecting our investment value and delivering environmental benefits for society,” the firm’s executive director of responsible investment, Chris Newton, said.
