Time To Get Real

So, what’s next after the launch of the Volans report, created in partnership with the Generation Foundation, and called Time To Get Real, summarizing the status of climate policy engagement by the institutional investment sector?

Key takeaways include:

🚨 System-level risks require a system-level response. If policymakers do not appear to be taking adequate action to address those risks, investors can and should seek to change that.

📚 To date, investor engagement on climate policy has mostly focused on disclosure (e.g., support for TCFD, ISSB etc) and sustainable finance regulation, not on policies that affect the real economy directly.

🧭 Leading practitioners recognise the need for more resource to go towards engagement on real economy policies and some are starting to shift their resources in that direction already.

🤝 Collaborative engagement > individual engagement. Formal and informal alliances are key to having impact.

🗝️ Asset owners have a critical role to play. Even if they are constrained in their ability to do real economy policy work themselves, they need to create the “demand signal” that will incentivise others to step up their efforts.

Now we aim to continue building momentum, bringing in other representatives from across the investment industry. Please connect with the Volans team if you have thoughts on the following: (1) which institutions—that aren’t already doing so—should be engaging (more) on real economy climate policies; and (2) any ideas on how to build momentum that are either already being put into action or that could be implemented with further support.

Looking forward to any thoughts on how to continue building out this work. Please sign up to follow our work on investor climate policy engagement here.