Investors urge policymakers to aid $275T for net zero

investmentnews.com:

An influential group of institutional investors has called on governments to remove policy barriers to help unleash an estimated $275 trillion in new clean-energy investments over the next three decades.

The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, whose members oversee $11 trillion of assets and include Allianz SE, Axa SA and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, said governments need to tee up clearer and stronger policies to move the global economy from fossil fuel dependency to a low-carbon future. In a report published Thursday, the NZAOA said that while its members have committed to support the transition and reach net zero financed emissions, government support will be essential if the required economic transformation to deliver net zero emissions is to occur.

“This is an opportunity of a generation and we want to be part of that, and there’s just some small levers which governments need to pull or assist with,” said Olga Hancock, co-leader of the group’s work on public policy and head of responsible investment for the Church Commissioners for England. “We want governments to hear the message that we — as capital allocators at the pinnacle of the food chain — want that to happen,” she said in an interview.

Rishi Sunak, Uspeaks at a news conference in Downing Street in London, UK, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Sunak was told weeks before deciding to roll back his green policies that he risked jeopardizing Britain’s place as global leader on climate as well as his legally binding net zero goal. Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

In some quarters, that’s becoming harder to achieve. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement Wednesday that he would roll back some green-energy policies threatens