New York City pension funds commit to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040

Three New York City pension funds have committed to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in their investment portfolios by 2040.

The involved pension funds include the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS).

The plan involves doubling investments in climate-change solutions, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and green real estate, to more than $8 billion by 2025, and achieving more than $37 billion in climate-solutions investments by 2035. The pension funds also will seek to develop interim targets for reducing portfolio greenhouse gas emissions; consider climate- change risk and opportunity and net-zero alignment in the evaluation, selection and monitoring of asset managers; analyze the carbon footprint of public-markets investments annually for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions; explore tools for evaluating climate risks to