Aviva to boost low-carbon assets to $3.9bn
Leading insurance company will invest $780m annually in clean energy and energy efficiency assets up to 2020
Leading insurance company Aviva will boost its investments in low-carbon assets to $3.9 billion and reduce its exposure to fossil fuel industries in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Aviva Chief Executive Officer Mark Wilson said the firm will invest approximately $780 million annually in clean energy and energy efficiency assets up to 2020.
Aviva currently manages assets worth $390 billion and will assess the risk posed by potential regulatory intervention designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will reduce exposure to fossil fuel firms accordingly.
The announcement means Aviva has joined a global movement of international organisations that are divesting from carbon intensive companies.
The United Nations is spearheading a fossil fuel divestment campaign that has received support from over 200 major organisations including the Bank of America, The Rockefeller Foundation and Stanford University.
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has divested all of its fossil fuel assets, worth about $860 million and Syracuse University announced that it will divest $1.18 billion of fossil fuel investments.
German finance giant Allianz Group has increased its annual renewable energy investment budget to $385 million, while AXA has announced plans to increase its investment in clean energy assets to $3.3 billion by 2020 and sell $500 million in coal-related assets.
Guardian Media Group also announced its plans earlier in 2015 to divest about $880 million of fossil fuel-related assets.
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, announced that it had sold its stakes in 53 carbon intensive firms worldwide, including the world’s largest coal mining company, Coal India Limited.