Forty-nine leading US and European institutional investors have pledged to collectively invest $10-billion in clean technologies and energy efficiency over the next two years, and incorporate “green standards” into their investment decisions.

The institutional investors – which together manage more than $1.75-trillion in assets – released a climate change action plan last week at an Investor Summit on Climate Risk hosted in New York by the United Nations Foundation and the Ceres investor coalition.

They want the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to insist that companies listed in New York and elsewhere disclose their exposure to climate change risk. And they want Wall Street analysts, rating agencies and investment banks to analyse and report on the potential impacts of long-term carbon costs, in the range of $20 to $40 per metric ton of CO2, particularly on carbon-intensive investments such as new coal-fired power plants and coal-to-liquid projects, Ceres said in a statement.

They also called on the US Congress to introduce a mandatory national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% below 1990 levels by 2050.

“Our goal is to transform the world economy into one that is clean, green and sustainable,” said California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, one of the signatories, who serves on the board of pension funds that collectively manage more than $500-billion in assets.

Via :: The Guardian