Climate Action 2010-2011

Finance and Markets
McKinsey & Company highlight such projects on righthand
side of their often-cited ‘abatement cost curve’ as
seen above. Not only are these projects necessary in order
to meet suitably ambitious carbon reduction targets but
many projects on this end of the scale are motivated
solely on the grounds of mitigating climate change.
Installing commercial-scale Carbon Capture and
Storage (CCS) equipment is one such example.
It is therefore essential businesses have the appropriate
signals to continue investing in low-carbon solutions
from governments around the globe as the ‘win-win’
opportunities subside.
With the seeds of a
low-carbon economy coming
to fruition, the emergence of
global market leaders for
low-carbon solutions is welcome
news for investors.
the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) – now a key source
of information for investors on climate-related corporate
risk and opportunity profiles. More recently, in July
this year we joined organisations including Microsoft,
Siemens and BT in signing an open letter from the
Aldersgate Group to UK Government ministers arguing
that “a clearer, stronger signal is needed now for the
introduction of mandatory carbon reporting in the UK
that is consistent with international standards”.
Chief amongst the arguments for this measure is
that mandatory carbon reporting would go a long
way to providing investors with a fuller picture of
companies’ material climate risks and opportunities.
Given the emergence of low-carbon growth within
major corporations, as well as the successes of voluntary
reporting schemes such as the CDP, we remain
optimistic that large companies will play an integral
role in tackling climate change.
[Additional research provided by Jonathan Wallace.]
Large sections of the investment community lend
their support in this regard. The Investor Statement on
a Global Agreement on Climate Change, which Jupiter
signed in 2008, concludes that clear, credible, long-term
policy signals are critical for investors to integrate climate
change considerations into their decision-making process,
and to support investment flows into a low-carbon
economy. Progress towards an historic and ambitious
global agreement on climate change would undoubtedly
send the right signal. However, a continuation of the
strong progress we have seen at national and regional
levels of government is equally crucial.
Backing the best throughout
With the seeds of a low-carbon economy coming to
fruition, the emergence of global market leaders for
low-carbon solutions is welcome news for investors such
as ourselves who seek to identify and invest in long-term
outperformers. At Jupiter, we believe that a valuable
signal of this rests in how fully companies understand
and act appropriately on both the risks and opportunities
associated with the transition to a low-carbon economy.
This requires an ‘engaged’ approach to investment
decision making whereby the right questions are asked
of a company’s strategic positioning around climate
change and wider sustainability issues. This dialogue
is naturally set within the practicalities of companies’
operations and – in the same fashion as the approach
taken within corporate leaders such as GE and BMW –
is an increasingly integral part of investment research
and decision-making.
To support us in our aim of generating strong returns
for our investors, we are also taking a pro-active and vocal
stance in advocating best-practice in corporate reporting
around climate change. Jupiter is a founding signatory of
Emma Howard Boyd is a Director of Jupiter Asset
Management and Head of Sustainable Investment
and Governance. She is also a Senior Associate of the
University of Cambridge’s Programme for Sustainability
Leadership, a Director of Triodos Renewables Plc,
and an Executive Board Member for the Accounting
for Sustainability Project. She was founding Chair of
Eurosif, the European Sustainable and Responsible
Investment Forum, from its launch until the end of 2002,
and was also Chair of UKSIF, the sustainable investment
and finance association until March 2006.
Launched in 1985 as a specialist boutique, Jupiter has
grown to be one of the UK’s most successful and respected
investment management groups. We currently manage
assets spread across a range of UK and offshore mutual
funds, multi-manager products, hedge funds, institutional
mandates and investment companies. Jupiter has gained
a reputation for achieving outperformance across a broad
variety of portfolios specialising in different markets,
including UK equities, Europe, global financials and
emerging Europe.
Jupiter Asset Management
1 Grosvenor Place
London SW1X 7JJ
UK
Tel: +44 (0)207 412 0703
Fax: +44 (0)20 7412 0705
Email: sri.dept@jupiter-group.co.uk
Website: www.jupiteronline.co.uk
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