Cazenove Capital is offsetting the carbon footprint of its Charity Responsible Multi-Asset Fund.
It is working with Ecologi, a social enterprise that helps individuals and businesses to offset their carbon footprint through reforestation and carbon reduction projects.
The investment manager will absorb the cost of the carbon offsetting, rather than increasing the cost for charities that invest in the fund.
As well as having a low-carbon investment approach for the fund, it will now also offset the carbon emission from its other equity investments via chosen environmental projects. These will focus on biodiversity and reforestation around the world.
Cazenove says it will provide investors with “transparent reporting on the fund’s carbon footprint, the environmental projects supported and the number of trees planted”.
Kate Rogers, co-head of charities at Cazenove Capital, said: “This gives our clients the confidence that their holdings will not only accelerate the energy transition through investment in green bonds, sustainable farming and renewable energy, but also support vital environmental projects.
“We are proud to have already protected native forests in Columbia, supported a reforestation project in Uruguay, and planted 5,000 tree seedlings in Nicaragua and Madagascar. This initiative further reinforces our steadfast commitment to investing for a better future for people and planet, as we align our business with the 2015 Paris Agreement.”
Growth in responsible investment
According to Cazenove’s recent Intentional Investing report, 77% of charity investors have a responsible investment policy, up from 59% in 2015 and 23% a decade ago.
The report also found that climate change was a key element of this, with 26% of charities with responsible investment policies explicitly considering climate change.
In particular, divestment from fossil fuels has grown, with a third of exclusionary policies banning coal and tar sands investment, and 15% banning oil and gas investment. This is up from just 4% in the 2015, the report states.
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