Insight into PFA’s journey towards net zero CO2 emissions

Concrete actions are needed to reduce CO2 emissions, and therefore PFA is working in a targeted manner on helping to realise the green transition. How this work takes place is described in PFA’s guidelines for achieving net zero CO2 emissions.

PFA has committed itself to achieving net zero CO2 emissions from PFA’s total investment portfolio by no later than 2050 under the auspices of the UN-backed Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance investor initiative. For PFA Climate Plus, the ambition is to already have net zero emissions in 2025. 

To achieve this, work is being focused on several areas, and this is now published in PFA’s guidelines for achieving net zero CO2 emissions.

Among other things, this is done by investing in green assets and working towards ensuring that the companies that PFA has invested in reduce their CO2 emissions and reconfigure their business models to a world that is not based so much on fossil energy.

“When we look at the serious consequences that the UN’s Climate Panel repeatedly point to as the harmful impacts of climate change, it clearly shows that action is needed. At PFA, we want to be part of the solution and at the same time be transparent about what our contributions and methods are. After all, there are many tools being used when we apply pressure to the companies we invest in and make targeted investments in the green transition. We want to give our customers and other stakeholders insight into this,” says Kasper A. Lorenzen, PFA’s Group CIO. 

Investments in forests are important for CO2 absorption

Even though PFA’s investments will emit less and less CO2 in the future, they will still be emitting CO2. The ambition for PFA’s portfolios to have net zero emissions can therefore only be realised by having the remaining CO2 emissions absorbed in forests or captured via other techniques. 

Therefore, for PFA it is important to be transparent about the method that is applied when PFA offsets the portfolios’ CO2 emissions via forest investments, and this is elaborated on in the document.

“Over the past few decades, forestry investments in the United States have provided solid and long-term returns and have been less impacted by inflation and the ups and downs of the business cycles. Forests also play an important role in solving the climate challenges that we are facing now and in the future. They can absorb and store CO2, and wood is increasingly used as a replacement for metals and plastics in, for example, the construction and furniture industries,” says Kasper A. Lorenzen.