Majority of pension savers view net-zero pledges as misleading

March 28, 2022

A study by online pension provider PensionBee has found that 63% of pension savers view net-zero pledges as disingenuous and making not much difference to the climate crisis.

The annual Tailored Plan survey sought to understand customers in its default plan’s evolving investment views and had responses from 2,314 people.

Almost half – 45% – of under 30s said they felt net-zero pledges were merely corporate PR, while 26% of all savers said that they felt 2050 was too late for change and that the pledges lacked accountability. Female savers held this latter view more than men, at 33% to 23%.

Over a third of the respondents said they believed the lack of a standardised approach in achieving net zero led to little transparency from firms over the scope and boundary of the targets, as well as plans for reaching them. Despite this, 18% of respondents felt net-zero pledges represent an important first step towards dealing with climate change.

In regard to the respondents reactions to investing in fossil fuel firms, 49% of pension savers shared that they only wanted these firms within their pension if they showed a concrete commitment to improving their environmental impact.

Meanwhile, up to 15% said they favoured removing the oil sector completely from their investors, while 7% said they wanted to invest in fossil fuel companies only to be able to vote at their AGMs to effect change more quickly.

The need for good profits was notified by up to 27% of savers, saying they were happy for their pension to continue to be invested in the oil industry if profits were delivered. This view was most popular amongst those aged 41 and above, showing a chasm between older and younger savers on the topic of environmental impact.

PensionBee chief engagement officer Clare Reilly said, “The message from pension savers is loud and clear – they want companies within their pension to show a clear and sustained commitment to becoming more environmentally conscious and to avoid ambiguous promises in 2022 and beyond.”