APG’s Head of Responsible Investment & Governance Claudia Kruse has collaborated with the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Sustainable Finance on a blueprint for a sustainable investment strategy for the EU.
In a video interview, which will be shown on June 20 during a discussion meeting on ‘the challenges of measuring sustainability’, Kruse will talk about her work for the HLEG and sustainable investment at APG. Fondsnieuws, a journalism platform aimed at investment professionals, organizes the meeting.
The interview shows that the European Commission wants to work on encouraging sustainable investment and on what is needed to make progress. The EU aims for a uniform classification system for sustainable investment, with which it wants to end the discussion on definition regarding this topic. A positive development, according to Kruse, seeing how more capital could be moved to sustainable investments if market parties would have more clarity on what can and cannot be considered sustainable.
Clients have their own sustainability goals
In the Fondsnieuws conversation, Kruse paints a picture of the sustainable investment practices at APG. She explains that APG works on behalf of clients who have set up their own sustainability goals. The most comprehensive goal is the implementation of the so-called inclusion policy. In this policy, companies in which investments are made are expected to comply with the United Nations guidelines for responsible entrepreneurship. These pertain to human rights, labor rights, anti-corruption and environment.
Goals far exceeded
By now, APG invests a considerable sum in sustainable development on behalf of its clients (55.3 billion Euros at the end of 2017) and for 2020 it aims for 61.5 billion Euros. The goal of 25% reduction in CO2 emissions for the 2020 investment portfolio had been reached by a wide margin at the end of 2017. For 2020, APG wants to have 5 billion Euros invested by order in sustainable energy, of which 4 billion Euros were already realized by the end of 2017. The goals for investment in education and communication technology (1.6 billion Euros in 2020) have already been exceeded by a wide margin.
According to Kruse, the greatest challenge will be guaranteeing reliability of investment data for a substantial and diverse investment portfolio (480 billion Euros). APG has therefore invested substantially in systems for integrating this data in its investment processes.