The fund has published a revised version of its climate risk report, showing higher carbon footprints across all investment strategies used by more than 600,000 members for their retirement savings. — Bloomberg
MELBOURNE: UniSuper, one of Australia’s largest pension funds, has reported that investments across its A$115bil (US$77bil or RM348bil) portfolio are more harmful to the environment than previously estimated.
The fund has published a revised version of its climate risk report, showing higher carbon footprints across all investment strategies used by more than 600,000 members for their retirement savings.
UniSuper had previously removed the disclosures from an earlier version of the report after finding some errors, Bloomberg reported in March.
Ernst & Young LLP was engaged to review the fund’s emission data, according to the updated report.
As part of the review, the consulting firm interviewed UniSuper staff and checked the accuracy of calculations, the document showed.
A spokesman for UniSuper confirmed an updated report was published last month, but declined to comment on the revisions or why they were higher.
Australia’s A$3.4 trillion (RM10.2 trillion) pension industry is under mounting pressure to stand up environmental claims, especially as it continues to be a big investor in fossil fuel companies.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is running a ruler over climate claims of financial institutions, amid a growing concern that some may be making statements that could mislead retail investors.
UniSuper’s new report revises the carbon intensity levels of its balanced portfolio, the default option for members, to 4.29 tonnes of emissions per A$100,000 (RM301,131) invested from 3.69 tonnes in the original version published in September.
When the investments are grouped by asset classes, one of the biggest revisions is in the international equities portfolio where levels almost doubled to 2.92 tonnes per A$100,000 (RM301,131) from 1.56 tonnes.
The calculations include only Scope 1 and 2 emissions. — Bloomberg
