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Article | 20 December 2021 | ESG
One of the major deals to emerge from last month’s COP26 climate conference was the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. Signed by 141 countries covering more than 90% of global forests, the deal promotes the conservation, protection, sustainable management and restoration of forests and other land.
Signatories also pledged to ensure a sustainable and inclusive land use transition. To achieve this, they will create new policies to promote sustainable production and consumption, while ensuring indigenous peoples and local communities aren’t disadvantaged by the changes over the coming decade. More than $19 billion of funding from various governments and companies has been secured to help achieve this, including a €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) pledge from the AXA Group.
The AXA Group was one of 30 companies that also promised to end investment in deforestation activities at COP26. We expect the pledge to make a positive impact on the world’s efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris Agreement. After all, forests absorb billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. Sustainable land management will also help to promote biodiversity, protecting wildlife habitats while maintaining natural ecosystems and the endless benefits that they bring. This is another cause that is important to the AXA Group.
Each month, we look at the steps Architas and the AXA Group are taking towards a better, more sustainable future for our employees, communities and the wider world.
Architas hosted its Asia Responsible Investing Forum in November, with speakers from Architas, the AXA Group and other global asset managers. There were discussions on client attitudes towards responsible investment, the changing regulatory landscape, and the opportunities presented by the transition to net zero. Employees from Architas and the wider AXA Group also continued to complete the AXA Climate Academy training programme, with more than 70 trees planted from the efforts of Architas employees alone.
At Architas we specialise in multi-manager, multi-asset investing. We work with fund managers to ensure they are investing responsibly and focusing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. In 2018, we began our journey to full ESG integration across all of our offers, and we aim to achieve this by the end of 2021. Since 2018 we have also been signatories of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. For more information about our responsible investing process please click here.
