In the race toward net zero, the easiest victories are not always the most meaningful. Investors around the world — ourselves included — have set bold targets for decarbonizing our portfolios. Yet we must ask ourselves: Are we reducing emissions in the real world or simply cleaning up our balance sheets?
At The Russell Family Foundation, these questions have led us to deeper consideration about what net zero truly means. While we may be a relatively small investor, we believe we can help push the field forward by walking a different path — one we’ve come to call the “right path.” It’s not always the fastest, nor the cleanest on paper. But it is the path most likely to lead to real, lasting progress for people and the planet.
What “right path” investments look like
At The Russell Family Foundation, we define “right path” investments as those that may increase a portfolio’s reported emissions in the short term but are intentionally chosen for their capacity to reduce real-world emissions over time. These are the investments that finance the hardest work of climate action — retrofitting industrial systems, scaling frontier technologies that may have high initial carbon footprints and supporting transitions in carbon-heavy regions and sectors.
One example we’re excited about is Galvanize Global Equities, a new investment in our portfolio. Galvanize is not simply investing in low-carbon leaders. They are investing in hard-to-abate sectors that have often been overlooked by investors in environmental solutions. While they have a high emissions profile today, they are targeting a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 from their 2019 baseline.
This investment will increase our emissions intensity on paper yet accelerate real decarbonization where it matters most. That’s a tradeoff we’re willing to make.
Among Galvanize’s “right path” global equities investments is Cummins, a heavy-duty internal combustion engine company, to help decarbonize the transportation sector. At the same time, Galvanize identifies investments that reduce emissions intensity immediately, such as Bloom Energy, a company transforming clean energy through hydrogen fuel cells. This approach helps us to balance the portfolio while staying aligned with our mission.
These decisions aren’t about perfection. They’re about intentionality. They’re about financing the transition rather than avoiding it. And they’re about ensuring that our climate strategy is rooted in integrity, not just in image.
Guardrails that keep us accountable
We recently set concrete, ambitious interim targets for 2030 that reflect our sense of urgency and accountability.
- Emissions intensity: We aim to limit our carbon emissions intensity by 2030, though we expect it to rise slightly in the near term as we pursue high-impact, right path investments. We are prepared for that — and committed to transparent reporting throughout. We have set a 2030 target to remain over 80% more carbon-efficient — in terms of lower emissions — than the benchmark, which is approximately 120 tons CO2e per million dollars invested.
- Engagement: We’ve committed to engaging with the top 20 emitters in our public equity portfolio, encouraging them to have net zero plans that are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, or SBTi. With new proxy voting tools and increased scrutiny of our holdings, we are taking an active role in shareholder engagement to drive climate accountability. Terra Alpha, one of our public equity investment partners, is the first US SBTi-aligned financial institution.
- Climate solutions: Around 75% of our assets under management are already in climate solutions, including the vast majority of our private asset portfolio invested in decarbonization technology and nature-based solutions, and all our diversified assets, including with BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group and sustainable energy investor and operator Greenbacker. By 2030, we aim to maintain or increase this high bar of 75% in climate solutions.
These are not just metrics. They are the scaffolding of a strategy that insists on progress without compromising values.
Why optics aren’t enough
Too often in this field, we see investors meet targets by divesting from high-emitting sectors, purchasing carbon credits, or funneling capital into low-carbon companies that are already on track. These approaches may be necessary in part of a broader strategy, but when used in isolation, they fail to address the core of the climate crisis. They bypass the very sectors most in need of transformation.
Carbon credits, for example, have an important role to play in financing natural climate solutions. But they should not be a substitute for more difficult work, such as decarbonizing heavy industry, transforming transportation or accelerating grid-scale renewable energy.
The Russell Family Foundation’s strategy aligns with the principles of the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance, or NZAOA, and reflects a growing recognition: Net zero is not a 2030 problem. It’s a 2050 problem — because of the necessary large-scale transition. While short-term targets help create momentum, they must serve a longer-term vision of systemic change.
By updating our portfolio target to 2035 as part of our commitment to “right path” investments and considering how we can develop a future carbon credit strategy as complementary, we remain ahead of many underlying investments’ own decarbonization timelines while creating the space to focus on the most challenging final stretch — particularly in hard-to-abate sectors.
We are also actively navigating the complexities of data and engaging with peers, data providers and frameworks to ensure we approach these challenges with rigor and transparency.
A call to other asset owners
To those navigating similar questions, we extend an invitation: Join us in choosing the harder, more impactful path. It won’t always look as clean. Your emissions numbers might rise before they fall. But the impact — on communities, ecosystems and the global climate — will be deeper and more enduring.
The Russell Family Foundation is not unique in facing these tradeoffs. But we are committed to sharing openly about them, even when the story is complex. We believe the field benefits when investors lead with humility and transparency, rather than polish.
We are also looking ahead to new collaborations, building on qualitative research underway in 2025 and an upcoming convening to bring like-minded organizations together. If we can coordinate our strategies and align our capital, the collective impact could be exponential.
A vision for 2035
Ultimately, we’re not just investing toward a number. We’re investing toward a future — one where finance plays a vital role in building a thriving, just and sustainable world. That future won’t be realized by 2035. But with courage, collaboration and conviction, we believe we can be part of helping drive an important transition.
So we are choosing the right path — not because it is easier, but because it is necessary. And we look forward to being transparent about what’s working — and what’s not.
If we invest courageously today, even when it’s complicated, 2035 won’t just be another deadline. It will be a milestone in building a world where finance fuels a thriving planet.
Kathleen Simpson is the CEO of The Russell Family Foundation.
Guest posts on ImpactAlpha represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ImpactAlpha.
