Hosted by Sierra Club Foundation
Sierra Club Headquarters
2101 Webster St, #1300, Oakland, CA 94612
The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement gave us a mandate to build a clean and safe energy future. With a target to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the treaty requires a rapid transition from fossil fuels to an advanced energy economy powered by renewables and clean technology. Governments cannot do it alone. Powerful forces in business, philanthropy and civil society must rally also to accelerate the transition underway.
Join Confluence Philanthropy and DivestInvest Philanthropy for a high-level forum on the catalytic role Institutional Investors can and must play in a time of climate change. The conversation will be grounded in two new reports -- by Mercer Consulting and Croatan Institute, respectively -- that preview exciting investment opportunities in the clean energy future. The Mercer Report will catalogue clean investment-grade opportunities across all asset classes of a traditional foundation portfolio. The Croatan Report takes a closer look at community-based investments for capitalizing an energy transition that builds a just and fair economy for all.
The reports are dropping in the midst of a charged atmosphere on the fiduciary duty of institutional investors to consider climate risk in managing their portfolios. A new report by the G20’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures last December concluded that climate change is a material risk that isn’t properly disclosed by public companies. With major implications for the fossil fuel industry and their investors, the Task Force calls on companies to stress-test how their business model will fare in a 2 degree world, and disclose these findings in financial statements. It follows that investors with fiduciary duties must grapple with climate risk, as they would any other material risk to financial performance. Trustees for mission-driven investors, such as foundations, face an even higher burden: Growing legal scholarship in the US, UK and Canada suggest a fiduciary duty to ensure investments do not undercut mission - a duty which could become a legally enforceable obligation over time.
At this discussion, participants will reflect on these trends and consider options suggested in the new reports. We anticipate the conversation will offer concrete ways forward for institutions to better manage their portfolios, mindful of the risks and opportunities in a time of climate change.
Speakers to include:
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE?
This event is for funders (foundations, family offices, and individual donors), Confluence Advisors Bay Members, and invited institutional investors.
02/16/17 5:00pm — 8:00pm
Hosted by The Sierra Club Foundation
02/16/17 5:00pm — 8:00pm
Hosted by The Sierra Club Foundation
Hosted by Sierra Club Foundation
Sierra Club Headquarters
2101 Webster St, #1300, Oakland, CA 94612
The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement gave us a mandate to build a clean and safe energy future. With a target to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the treaty requires a rapid transition from fossil fuels to an advanced energy economy powered by renewables and clean technology. Governments cannot do it alone. Powerful forces in business, philanthropy and civil society must rally also to accelerate the transition underway.
Join Confluence Philanthropy and DivestInvest Philanthropy for a high-level forum on the catalytic role Institutional Investors can and must play in a time of climate change. The conversation will be grounded in two new reports -- by Mercer Consulting and Croatan Institute, respectively -- that preview exciting investment opportunities in the clean energy future. The Mercer Report will catalogue clean investment-grade opportunities across all asset classes of a traditional foundation portfolio. The Croatan Report takes a closer look at community-based investments for capitalizing an energy transition that builds a just and fair economy for all.
The reports are dropping in the midst of a charged atmosphere on the fiduciary duty of institutional investors to consider climate risk in managing their portfolios. A new report by the G20’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures last December concluded that climate change is a material risk that isn’t properly disclosed by public companies. With major implications for the fossil fuel industry and their investors, the Task Force calls on companies to stress-test how their business model will fare in a 2 degree world, and disclose these findings in financial statements. It follows that investors with fiduciary duties must grapple with climate risk, as they would any other material risk to financial performance. Trustees for mission-driven investors, such as foundations, face an even higher burden: Growing legal scholarship in the US, UK and Canada suggest a fiduciary duty to ensure investments do not undercut mission - a duty which could become a legally enforceable obligation over time.
At this discussion, participants will reflect on these trends and consider options suggested in the new reports. We anticipate the conversation will offer concrete ways forward for institutions to better manage their portfolios, mindful of the risks and opportunities in a time of climate change.
Speakers to include:
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE?
This event is for funders (foundations, family offices, and individual donors), Confluence Advisors Bay Members, and invited institutional investors.