PRI-led Collaborative Sovereign Engagement on Climate - Australian Pilot
The PRI has established a pilot sovereign engagement on climate change focused on Australia. The Initiative seeks to assist Australian governments to take all possible steps to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience toward climate change damage in line with the Paris Agreement and stabilising average global warming to 1.5°C.
As a pilot, this Initiative also seeks to better understand and test ways of working for collaborative sovereign engagement on climate change that may be applied to other markets in time.
Participating investors will seek this goal to reduce exposure to risks associated with a failure to rapidly transition to a net-zero global economy, including:
- Risks to their investments in Australian sovereign debt (e.g., downgrade).
- Where it impacts the competitiveness of the Australian economy (e.g., impacts on the enabling environment for investee companies in Australia).
- Where it contributes to systemic or systematic risks that diversified or universal investors face through their exposure to the global economy.
Participants are seeking that the Australian system’s response to climate change:
- Closes the gap between current action and a Paris-aligned emissions reduction trajectory.
- Establishes a detailed, credible and economy-wide net zero transition plan with supporting policy mechanisms, budget expenditure and investment structures.
- Builds greater climate adaptation and resilience across the economy and community to avoid worsening disruption and damage from physical risks.
- Improves disclosure of sovereign exposure to climate risks and opportunities consistent with international standards.
More detail on specific areas of interest for the engagement can be in the Initiative’s Policy Priorities paper.
- 0523_Priorities Paper_Australia Sovereign Engagement on Climate.pdf Download
- Environment
- Climate adaptation
- Climate change
- GHG targets / emissions
- Net Zero / Paris aligned
- 7 - Affordable & clean energy
- 13 - Climate action
- Australia
- Sovereign/Supra/Agency (SSA)