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'Climate change will impact investments'

'Climate change will impact investments'
The We Don't Have Time campaign held an event for Earth Day. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

There is consensus among banks and fund managers that climate change will have an impact on investments. 

At an event to mark Earth Day last week (April 22), climate solutions platform We Don't Have Time gathered representatives from around 100 leading financial companies under the theme Move the Money.

When asked whether uncontrolled climate change would have an impact on their investments, 97 per cent said it would. 

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Of those who answered yes, 50 per said this impact would be felt in between one and five years, while 36 per cent said it would impact in the medium term of around five years. 

CEO of We Don't Have Time, Ingmar Rentzhog, said: "The debate over whether active ownership is effective for fossil fuel companies is settled. It has clearly not worked, and the funding should be directed towards solutions." 

The event was co-organised by the campaign's partner SPP, a Swedish occupational pension provider which is divesting from fossil fuels.

The campaign said more than 6,500 institutional investors hold bonds and shares in coal, oil and gas companies to the tune of $3.05tr.

However, almost all of those asked (97 per cent) said it does not make sense to invest in fossil fuel companies with no phase-out plan for fossil fuel production. 

tara.o'connor@ft.com

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