PensionDanmark Discuss Sustainability at Green Growth Forum

PensionDanmark, one of the largest pension funds in Europe, attended the Global Green Growth Forum 2016 Summit yesterday. The aim of the Summit was to discuss how to meet the Development Goals set out by the Paris Agreement last year. At the event, PensionDanmark put forward innovative Danish investment solutions that could help accelerate the growth of sustainable infrastructure investments.

The Global Green Growth Forum 2016 Summit took place in Copenhagen on 6 – 7 June 2016. Its focus was on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted in September 2015 and the landmark Climate Agreement reached in Paris in December 2015.

Financial institutions managing hundreds of trillions worth of assets are playing an important role in achieving these Sustainable Development Goals. On Tuesday PensionDanmark’s CEO, Torben Möger Pedersen, participated in the presentation of the white paper: ‘Financing the Green Transition’ presenting innovative Danish investment solutions to pave the way for global green growth.

Torben Möger Pedersen is also active contributor at the 3GF-session Accelerating Financial Investments in Sustainable Growth addressing how to accelerate the pace of sustainable investing through the use of blended finance.

PensionDanmark has so far invested $3 billion in energy infrastructure in developed markets. These long term investments in primarily wind farms, biomass power plants and power and gas transmission are characterised by stable and non-cyclical cash flows that contributes to solid base in the investment portfolio.

In recent years PensionDanmark has also initiated investments in energy infrastructure in emerging and frontier economies through the Danish Climate Investment Fund.

Torben Möger Pedersen, CEO of PensionDanmark, said: “The Danish Government, IFU, Denmark’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries, the pension fund PKA and PensionDanmark together developed a blended finance model resulting in the creation of the Danish Climate Investment Fund and the Danish Agribusiness Fund.

“The Danish Climate Investment Fund, the Danish Agribusiness Fund are good examples of how public and private capital can work together to address global societal challenges in a way that benefits both Danish companies and investors.

“This model is both replicable and scalable, and the important feature is that investments that are otherwise too risky for us as a pension fund to contemplate through risk bearing concessional mechanisms can be made feasible and financially sustainable, thus at the same time opening up new investment opportunities and leveraging the government funds invested.”

Read more about The 3GF Summit, State of Greens White Paper and The Danish Climate Investment Fund and The Danish Agribusiness Fund.