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ONE PLANET SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS 4th ANNUAL CEO SUMMIT JOINT COMMUNIQUé

Leaders from sovereign wealth funds, asset managers and private investment firms met with President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry to review the latest trends behind the surge in climate-related investments and strategies, converge around standards to close market gaps, and underscore the role of investments in renewables in both developed and emerging markets in supporting companies reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.

the Élysée Palace, Paris - One month before the 26th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, President Emmanuel Macron met with CEOs of the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Funds (OPSWF) initiative, to discuss the state-of-play of the financial community’s contribution to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. The escalating climate emergency calls for increased cooperation across the financial system to achieve these ends.

The OPSWF initiative was launched at the One Planet Summit in December 2017 to accelerate the integration of climate change analysis into the management of large, long-term, and diversified asset pools. The goals of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) of long-term growth and the protection

From 6 founding sovereign wealth funds, the Network has since grown to 43 members, comprising 18 sovereign wealth funds, 17 asset managers, and 8 private investment firms, with over USD 36 trillion in assets under management and ownership. At the Summit, 10 new members from multiple regions joined the Network, and committed to collaborate actively to implement the principles of the OPSWF Framework, published at the Elysée Palace in 2018.

Engagement with companies and asset managers across sectors on their climate-related plans. On engagement, increased efforts are needed to ensure every investment decision takes account of climate and environment-related risks at the company level. To that end, OPSWF Network members agree to further support the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) as a universal standard, and bridge the gap in improving the quality of climate and environment-related financial information available to actors across the financial system. This will help to reduce risk for individual investments and portfolios, but also help to reduce systemic risks facing the financial system as a whole. Today, we are pleased to report that One Planet Private Equity Funds members have announced their support of the TCFD. The involvement of private investment firms is key to increasing climate disclosures in the private markets.

Investing in the solutions that are arising from the global efforts to address climate change, with a focus on renewable energy. Companies cannot comprehensively transition and reduce their carbon footprint without access to reliable and affordable renewable energy in the local markets in which they operate. Companies in emerging markets face such access challenges and this is a contributing factor as to why emerging account for more than two-thirds of current global CO2 emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA); developed markets have, historically, largely accounted for past emissions. OPSWF Network members demonstrate a global scope in renewable energy investments in emerging markets working across regions, both at small and large-scale. At the Summit, participants discussed two areas for continued focus in the renewable energy sector: identifying investment enablers for private sector financing of the renewable energy transition of emerging markets and scaling green hydrogen globally.

Members have committed to continue the collaborative work and generate practical applications of the OPSWF Framework that have a material contribution to the transition of the global economy in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. They agreed to reconvene for the 5th Annual OPSWF CEO Summit that will take place in Abu Dhabi in 2022 t o review progress and maintain momentum.

“One Planet Sovereign Wealth Funds, Asset Managers and Private Equity Funds are converging around the opportunity to be at the forefront of the transition to a world economy aligned with the Paris Agreement. We are witnessing a critical mass of investors decarbonizing portfolios upstream, and companies that are decarbonizing their operations downstream the investment chain. We encourage private sector actors to step up the pace and put in place credible transition plans, otherwise they will get left behind. We need to shift the economy to Net Zero by 2050, as we have pledged in the E.U. But our ambition needs to go beyond: our only hope for assuring the earth does not warm beyond 1.5 degrees depends on rapidly innovating pathways for companies to become (1) carbon negative, sucking carbon out of the atmosphere and (2) biodiversity positive, rebuilding nature’s ecosystems to rebalance the carbon equation, reconstitute the earth’s immune systems, and protect generations to come. We welcome U.S. Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, and Finance Advisor to the UK Prime Minister for COP 26, Mark Carney who join us today to work together and forge concrete solutions and fast”.

“Financing clean energy transitions in emerging economies is essential for keeping a 1.5 within reach. The One Planet Sovereign Wealth Funds initiative, under President Macron’s leadership and building on the experience of sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, and private equity funds around the world, has the potential to catalyze climate action and shift trillions of dollars toward sustainable, climate-smart investments.” John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

Paris, 4 October 2021