Every year since 2017, UTAM has joined other investors in signing the Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis. The statement calls on governments to raise their climate ambition in line with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. The 2024 statement, which urges governments to enact policies freeing up private financial flows for the just transition to a net-zero economy, brings together more than 650 investors worldwide, representing more than US $33 trillion in assets under management.

“The 2024 Global Investor Statement recognizes that many governments have already adopted policies accelerating investment in clean energy – but it’s also clear that we need to do more in order to reach net zero emissions by 2050,” says Chuck O’Reilly, UTAM’s President and Chief Investment Officer. “Investors are calling on governments to support net zero with the urgency it requires.”

The 2024 statement draws particular attention to underinvestment in clean energy and climate policy action within emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). As the text reads, “The climate crisis is amplified by inaction and underinvestment in the sustainable management of water resources; nature and biodiversity; and adaptation to climate change, which will disproportionately affect EMDEs, with projected costs surging as global temperature rises.”

In 2023, nearly 200 countries at COP28 in Dubai agreed to support a just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels, and to accelerate the shift towards net zero emission energy systems by 2050. The transition, especially as it relates to EMDEs, also features in United Nations Climate Change Conferences: finance flows to EMDEs were a high priority at COP29 in Azerbaijan, and COP30 in Brazil will bring together efforts to address climate and nature crises.

Joining with other investors in this statement is part of UTAM’s ongoing commitment to engagement that supports responsible investing. “It’s long been our view at UTAM that our engagement and advocacy efforts have more impact when they bring together groups of like-minded investors, as The Global Investor Statement does,” says O’Reilly. “We support efforts like this that align with our own approach to ESG integration and responsible investing.”

The Global Investor Statement advocates that governments adopt a whole-of-government approach: “effective policies are essential at all levels of government to accelerate the private capital flows needed for a climate-resilient, nature-positive, just net zero transition.” The statement addresses five critical policy groupings, calling on governments to:
• enact economy-wide public policies aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C targets
• implement sectoral strategies, especially in high-emitting sectors
• address nature, water and biodiversity-related challenges contributing to and stemming from the climate crisis
• mandate climate-related disclosures across the financial system including transition plans and climate risk disclosure in financial reporting
• facilitate further private investment into climate mitigation, resilience, and adaptation activities in emerging markets and developing economies.

Read the full text of the 2024 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis, including the list of signatories.