Status: 10/18/2022 6:27 p.m
Several organizations accuse large German fund companies of still investing too much money in climate-damaging businesses. They would have great power to get corporations to rethink.
The accusation weighs heavily: Despite their climate promises, Germany’s largest asset managers have invested 13 billion euros in the expansion of fossil fuels, according to a new study by Greenpeace, urgewald and Reclaim Finance. The non-governmental organizations accuse the four major German asset managers Allianz Global Investors (AGI), Deka Investments, Union Investment and DWS of still investing heavily in expanding fossil energy companies.
Mauricio Vargas, Greenpeace’s finance expert, told tagesschau.de: “What we criticize is that the four asset managers on the one hand make full-bodied promises in the direction of climate protection, uphold the 1.5-degree target, but do far too little in their daily investment practice to achieve this goal.”
“All systems are in focus”
Henrik Pontzen, head of sustainability in portfolio management at Union Investment, criticizes the study as misleading. They suggest that it is about sustainable investments. “In fact, all plants are in focus here. And if you take a look at the magnitude: Of the 400 billion that Union Investment is investing, the study claims that two billion euros have not been invested in a climate-friendly manner.”
The total amount invested by the four largest German fund companies is estimated at more than 2 trillion euros. If 13 billion euros flow into climate-damaging companies, that’s still a lot of money, says Pontzen – but only 0.6 percent of all fixed assets.
Even more investments doubtful?
Greenpeace economist Vargas doesn’t want to leave it that way. One should not conclude that the remaining 99.4 percent are invested in line with the Paris climate goals. “In the study, we only identify those investments that, according to the science, clearly no longer belong in the portfolios of wealth managers who are committed to Paris. But beyond that, there are many other investments in dark gray tones to think about as well. ”
According to Pontzen, Union Investment, the investment company of DZ Bank, has set itself clear climate targets: From 2025, they only want to invest in companies that have set themselves complete, long-term climate targets. According to Union Investment, it no longer invests in corporations that continue to promote coal expansion.
DWS is working on a stance on coal
Such clear commitments are missing from other large providers such as DWS. The initiators of the studies miss general requirements for the restriction of investments in coal companies at the fund company of Deutsche Bank. The company announced at the request of ARD stock exchange studios with, DWS is currently working “on a coal policy”. This should correspond to the requirements and timeframe of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) – an initiative founded in 2015 to enable companies to set scientifically oriented climate targets.
According to the evaluation by Greenpeace and Co., DWS is currently the investment company in Germany with a volume of 7.5 billion euros that makes the largest climate-damaging investments.
“Sustainability is a process”
Sustainability fund manager Pontzen from Union Investment advocates a broader understanding of investments in sustainability. “Some say sustainability is a condition, you can only invest in companies that are already sustainable. And others say: Sustainability is a process, we have to invest in companies that transform themselves credibly and thereby help us achieve a sustainable future at all.”
Critics, however, expect asset managers to encourage corporations to rethink even more. “The fact is that the largest owners of listed companies are the asset managers,” says Greenpeace expert Mauricio Vargas. “And in this respect they have an enormous influence on companies.”