June 2008

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A group of more than 50 big-time institutional investors, asset managers, venture capitalists and others who collectively manage more than $2.3 trillion in assets last month wrote to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging them to pass strong national climate legislation expected to reach the Senate floor in coming weeks. The investors which include pension fund managers, state treasurers and state/city controllers from California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City and State, Pennsylvania, said they are repeating previous calls from investors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60-90% by 2050: “Today we are calling on Congress to set a target and timetable to reduce emissions consistent with the most widely-accepted science,” the letter said. They quoted last year’s reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggesting that 25-40% reductions by 2020 and 80-95% cuts by 2050 “will be needed to avoid the most harmful aspects.” The letter, sent by the Investors Network on Climate Risk (INCR), added, “the Securities and Exchange Commission and other financial regulatory bodies must better define the material issues related to climate change and clarify what companies should disclose with respect to climate change in their regular financial reporting.” The signers included the California Public Employees’ Retirement System; the California State Teachers’ Retirement System; Kevin Parker, global head of asset management Deutsche Bank; Francis G. Coleman, executive vice president Christian BrothersInvestment Services; Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures; L. John Doerr, partner Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Joan Bavaria, president Trillium Asset Management; Pam Solo, president Civil Society Institute; Rev. William Somplatsky-Jarman, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Timothy Brennan, treasurer Unitarian Universalist Association; Timothy E. Wirth, president United Nations Foundations, and others.

Contact: INCR, Mindy Lubber, 617/247-0700 x 30, lubber@ceres.org.