2030 Finance | April 11, 2018

New York State pension fund to energy cos: How will you adapt to low-carbon future? 

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Three US energy companies – DTE Energy, Dominion Energy and Southwestern Energy – agreed to report to Thomas DiNapoli, comptroller for the $209 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, on how global efforts to achieve the goals of the Paris climate accord will affect their companies.

  • Activist pension fund… NYS Common Retirement Fund had submitted resolutions calling for the energy companies to assess how regulatory and technological efforts to mitigate climate change would impact their businesses.
  • Adapt or else… The resolutions also asked the companies how they will adapt to a low-carbon future.
  • Climate opportunities… The Fund has invested $4 billion in a low emissions index, $400 million with Al Gore’s Generation Asset Management, $300 million with the Rockefeller Asset Management’s sustainability strategy and $150 million with TPG Growth’s global goal-aligned Rise Impact Fund
  • Risk mitigation… The fund has filed more than 120 climate change-related shareholder resolutions, persuaded 70 companies to report carbon emissions data, and won shareholder support for ExxonMobil, Duke Energy and others to report the impact of climate mitigation efforts on their businesses.
  • DiNapoli… “Corporations need to recognize that a transition to a lower-carbon economy is already underway and their future success demands adjusting to this new reality.”
  • Go deeper… on climate finance, on ImpactAlpha.