A recent article in The Age threw light on the lack of discussion within Australia’s superannuation industry regarding climate change as part of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. It said:

Earlier this year, Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority’s (APRA) executive board member Geoff Summerhayes described climate change as “distinctly financial in nature”, “foreseeable, material and actionable now”, and having “potential system-wide implications”.

If this view is shared by Australian super funds, they do a great job of hiding it from the public. Market Forces reviewed public disclosures of the 100 largest funds in Australia and found that 82 per cent had disclosed little to no evidence that they were considering climate risk.

In fact, 60 funds showed no evidence whatsoever. Including the words “climate change” in an environmental, social and governance (ESG) policy, publishing a blog post on the topic of climate change or putting your name to the Paris pledge would have been enough to get a fund out of the do-nothing category.

Read the full article here – http://www.theage.com.au/business/energy/this-is-the-climate-risk-jolt-that-super-funds-need-20170802-gxnwst.html

We’ve been working closely with a number of superannuation clients on their integrated reporting, the perfect vehicle for putting climate change and ESG front and centre. Not only have these reports received positive feedback from stakeholders, including, most importantly, members and employers, they have also won industry awards for attaining a high level of transparency.

Why not speak to us about how to get the message of climate change and ESG out there to your stakeholders?