A group made up of 392 investors, with a collective £23trn ($32trn) AUM (assets under management) have committed to climate action plans as part of the Investor Agenda.

The Investor Agenda outlines a commitment to help the global finance sector meet the aims of the Paris Agreement. It was announced on Wednesday that the investors have committed to principles of the agenda which span the areas of investment, corporate engagement, investor disclosure and policy advocacy.

The agenda aims to provide a blueprint for climate action which the organisations can follow, and is said to have been developed for the global investor community ‘to accelerate and scale up the actions that are critical to tackling climate change and achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement’.

The group also aims to lobby global governments to accelerate action for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

See also:

WeWork, McKinsey, RBS and Sony join Climate Group’s RE100 initiative

SSE issues $759mn green bond

Read the latest issue of Energy Digital magazine

The statement the investors have agreed to says: “We… are aware of the risks climate change presents to our portfolios and asset values in short, medium and long term. We therefore support the Paris Agreement and the need for the world to transition to a lower carbon economy consistent with a goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.”

The commitment was announced as part of the Global Climate Action Summit, held in San Francisco this week, which among other issues aims to persuade US President Donald Trump to stick to the terms of the Paris Agreement which he has decided the US should pull out of.

Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, stated that the investors’ “efforts to meet the shortfall in the financial resources required to deliver the Paris Agreement goals, and further building on engagement with high-emitting sectors are a valuable contribution”.

She added: “Yet we believe way more opportunities exist. The Investor Agenda offers a clear path to scale up investor action, which is essential to meet the needs in every region of the world to address climate change.

“It gives investors multiple opportunities to continue to demonstrate their willingness to become part of the transformation that will lead us to a cleaner, greener and sustainable future for all.”