SYPA commits £350m to support net zero journey
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South Yorkshire Pensions Authority has committed £350m to the Border to Coast Climate Opportunities fund and pledged £175m to a ‘sidecar’ arrangement that could increase its renewables and natural capital exposure within the same fund. In addition, £100m has been committed to a UK Opportunities Fund and £130m to forestry funds.
The £350m climate opportunities investment comes on top of £245m that was committed in 2022. The portfolio targets investments that aim to have a positive impact on climate change, such as renewable energy, battery storage and electric vehicles. It also seeks to invest in sustainable food production, carbon capture and storage, forestry, and projects to improve the resilience of electricity grids.
“The benefit of Border to Coast’s Climate Opportunities Fund is that we can tilt our investments into more climate positive areas within the LGPS pooling framework to ensure our portfolio is supporting our net zero goals,” said SYPA’s chair, cllr Jayne Dunn.
Meanwhile, the £100m commitment to Border to Coast’s UK Opportunities fund, launched in April, will help to strengthen SYPA’s place-based impact investment portfolio, the authority said. Place-based investments include SYPA’s direct development lending portfolio, which has loaned around £160m since launch.
The investment in two forestry funds comprises of a £50m commitment to Gresham House, who will deploy the money in Scotland and Wales, and £80m to Campbell Global, part of JP Morgan, who will invest it in international forestry funds.
The investment in two forestry funds comprises of a £50m commitment to Gresham House, who will deploy the money in Scotland and Wales, and £80m to Campbell Global, part of JP Morgan, who will invest it in international forestry funds.
Dunn said the forestry investments provide a diversified source of returns while further supporting SYPA’s efforts to combat climate change and support biodiversity.
“We are confident this latest commitment will deliver the financial returns we need to pay our members’ pensions as well as contributing towards a more sustainable future,” she said.
