Financial advisory group deVere has doubled its commitment to positioning assets into ESG investments to $2bn within five years.
Earlier this year, the group said it aimed to have $1bn in socially responsible investment vehicles in five years. Now the organisation has doubled the investment aim to ’$2bn or more’ by 2026.
According to Nigel Green – CEO and founder of deVere – the new target is achievable, claiming that investors are keen to get ‘ahead of the curve’ and are receptive to the opportunities as countries and companies work to deal with the current environmental, economic and social issues that plague the world.
deVere is also one of 18 founding signatories of the UN-supported Net Zero initiative, which is an international alliance of global finance organisations that aim to help accelerate the transition to a net zero financial system. The company said its membership means it is committed to ‘aligning all relevant products and services to achieve net zero greenhouse gases by 2050 and to set meaningful interim targets for 2025’.
deVere has also stated that it aims to substantially speed-up its own meeting of the targets in order to reduce operational emissions in line with limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees centigrade.
Green added, “Climate change – and the major, far-reaching fallout of it for economies and communities around the world – is the greatest risk multiplier. There’s no question that it is the defining issue of our time.
“In the 2020 annual risk report from the World Economic Forum, the top five risks in terms of probability were environmental, and the top four of five risks in terms of impact were both social and environmental in nature. Our climate is changing at a quicker rate than previously predicted. We’re already noticing the impacts of human-created global warming.
“As a society, we have a small window of opportunity to slam on the brakes to save our planet. But this takes determination, honesty and resources. It requires unprecedented levels of investment, which is why deVere is now aiming to position $2bn into ESG investments within five years.”
ESG is an area of intense focus right now, and companies and countries globally look to do their bit to mitigate the risks associated with climate change. Recently, Virgin Money introduced a new app focused on providing an assessment of a companies’ ESG impacts by measuring, tracking and offering guidance. Earlier this year, the Japanese Financial Services Agency revealed it is planning to develop a new framework for the certification of ESG-related products.
Meanwhile, there are potential risks brewing in the new sector. The Bank of International Settlements recently warned of the escalating risk of a price bubble in environmentally-friendly-focused asset markets.
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