How to respond to bombshell UN climate report via your pension

In the wake of a warning from the UN that climate change is in danger of accelerating quicker than expected, we look at how to use your pension to fight it.

A recent UN report on climate change paints a devastating picture for the future of the planet if immediate action isn’t taken. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned we could be just 10 years from a climate tipping point. 

An increasing number of us are choosing not to fly, to eat less meat, or only buy sustainable products. However, one of the biggest ways you can affect change is by where you invest your money.

There is an estimated £2.6 trillion in UK pensions, a large proportion of which finances environmentally harmful industries such as fossil fuels and deforestation. If you don’t want to invest this way, you can take action.

• Climate change report: the key takeaways for fund investors
• Ethical and income funds top the charts over three and six months 
• £9 in every £10 invested in July went to ESG funds

Most workplace pensions should offer an “ethical” option which you can easily switch to. If not, speak to the pension provider and find out what funds they offer.

Campaign group Make My Money Matter, launched by Comic Relief co-founder and Love Actually director Richard Curtis, has atemplate email to encourage pension providers to move to net zero. 

interactive investor’s Family Money Ambassador Gabby Logan recently spoke at length to the award-winning screenwriter about his attitude to money, ethical investing and much more. To hear the full-length interview, click here.

You can also ask your employer about adding ethical funds. Again, Make My Money Matter has ahandy templateto help you.

While employers are not legally required to provide ethical pension options, public opinion and upcoming government policy might sway them. The Department for Work and Pensions announced in June that pension scheme trustees will soon be required to report on the risks of climate change to their investments.

If you’re a member of a defined benefit pension, contact the pension trustees to find out where the funds are invested. For those with old workplace pensions, look at what options are available within these plans and consider transferring them, so you have more control over how they are invested.  

Picking investments is tricky. Decide what is important to you and what your red lines are.

If you want to avoid fossil fuels, oil giants will clearly be a no-go, but what if those companies are investing heavily in renewable energy? Oil company BP (LSE:BP.), for example, aims to install 70,000 electrical car chargers by 2030. 

• Are you saving enough for retirement? Our pension calculator can help you find out
• A guide on how investors can protect against inflation
• Take control of your retirement planning with our award-winning, low-cost Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)

Always check a fund’s entire portfolio - not just the top 10 holdings. Familiarise yourself with the jargon - everything from ESG, thematic and impact. Financial experts can sort the green from the greenwash.

There is also interactive investor’s ACE 40 fund list to consider. Experts at ii have curated a selection of 40 best-in-class ethical investing options from a list of more than 140 funds, trusts and ETFs.

• Want to invest ethically? ii’s ACE 40 list of ethical investments can help