Schroders to Set Science Based Climate Targets, Joins Business Ambition for 1.5°C
Global investment manager Schroders announced today a new commitment to set science-based decarbonization goals with the Science Based Targets initiative. The company also announced that it has joined the Business Ambition for 1.5°C, a call to action from a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders urging companies to commit to set ambitious science-based emissions reduction targets, aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
SBTi was formed as a collaboration between CDP, World Resources Institute (WRI), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), with the goal to establish science-based environmental target setting as a standard corporate practice. Achieving approval of targets by SBTi is a significant milestone for companies’ sustainability efforts.
Schroders stated that it will lay out a trajectory of short to medium term science-based targets that will define its longer-term roadmap towards achieving the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.
Today’s initiatives follow a recent announcement by Schroders that it was joining the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative as a founding member. The coalition of 30 leading asset managers, representing over $9 trillion of assets under management (AUM) is committed to supporting the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner, in line with global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C, and its members have pledged to support investing aligned with net zero emissions by 2050.
In its release announcing its new initiatives, Schroders said:
“Transitioning to a net-zero emissions economy needs to start now. As a global asset manager, Schroders recognises that it has an important role as both an advocate for net zero emissions, and to lead by example in regards to outlining its own plans for achieving its environmental goals.
“At Schroders the impact we have on society and the environment is at the centre of everything we do. Therefore, our dedication to achieving the goals set out by Business Ambition for 1.5°C is paramount to our business strategy and we believe that in tomorrow’s investment world, profits and planet are interlinked.”