With 14 climate resolutions – put forward by the members – distributed among 9 pension funds, the climate was once again in focus in this year’s general assembly season in Denmark.
The general assemblies in 2024 have once again very clearly shown that the majority of Danish pension customers want a high focus on responsibility in their investments, and that in many cases the members can easily succeed in putting their demands through to the pension funds’ boards.
Of the 14 member resolutions on climate submitted in the 2024 general assembly season, 9 were adopted with the support of the board. Thus, 5 of the proposed climate resolutions were not adopted, but the hope is that the resolutions will still be fully or partially implemented in practice. In addition, anti-climate resolutions were voted down by an overwhelming majority.
However, there is still some way to go before Danish pension savings align with the Paris Agreement. Therefore, it remains extremely important that Danish pension customers continue their efforts to influence their pension providers to deliver products that combine high returns with climate-responsible investments.
AnsvarligFremtid contributes to fulfilling that ambition.
4 themes in this year’s membership resolutions
Resolution 1: Opting out of fossil investments
| “The Annual General Assembly calls on the Board of Directors to update the pension fund’s responsibility policy and opt-out criteria for the fossil fuel sector by the end of 2024, so that the pension fund opts out of oil, gas and coal companies whose business model is not compatible with the Paris Agreement. In this context, investments in new oil and gas fields or new coal-fired power plants are not considered compatible with the Paris Agreement. The updated opt-out criteria will be followed unless there is a special reason, cf. the comply-or-explain principle. |
This resolution, or resolutions with the same wording, were put forward and adopted at the general assemblies of P+, the Pension Fund for Agricultural Academics and Veterinarians (PJD), the Pension Fund of the Danish Association of Engineers (ISP) and PKA (Health Professionals).
The resolution was put forward, but not adopted by PKA (Social Workers) and PKA (Nurses).
Resolution 2: Strengthened active ownership
| “The Annual General Assembly encourages the Board of Directors to exercise strengthened active ownership regarding voting and monitoring and dialogue with asset managers in order to fulfil its obligations as a responsible investor in relation to the climate. The strengthened active ownership should be initiated by the end of 2024.” |
This resolution was put forward and adopted by P+.
A resolution with approximately the same wording was put forward, but not adopted by AP Pension and PKA (Health Professionals).
Resolution 3: Increased transparency on climate requirements for asset managers
| “AkademikerPension (AkP) is recommended to strengthen its transparency regarding the inclusion of climate requirements in the selection of external asset managers. Today, AkP decides to vote and critically engage in dialogue with companies independent of asset managers. AkP also has a strategy for selecting asset managers who act as closely as possible in accordance with AkP’s long-term interests. Unfortunately, there are still several examples of AkP’s external managers acting in conflict with AkP’s own climate policy. In order to ensure the greatest possible credibility in AkP’s choice of external asset managers, and in the long term strengthen AkP’s choice of asset managers, there is a need to strengthen the transparency around the selection of external managers, initially for managers of listed assets.” |
This resolution, or resolutions with the same wording, were put forward and adopted at the general meetings of AkademikerPension, as well as the Pension Fund for Agricultural Academics and Veterinarians (PJD) and the Pension Fund of the Danish Association of Engineers (ISP).
Resolution 4: Integration of climate risk assessment when investing in sovereign bonds
| “The general assembly recommends that guidelines be incorporated into Lægernes Pension’s policy for sustainability that describe how the pension fund integrates climate risks into the sovereign bond portfolio. The guidelines will be based on known or future international guidelines in the area and make use of the new data and tools that are being developed and that Lægernes Pension has access to. The policy must precisely describe the specific measures in the area, which may include, for example, exclusions, the use of special climate benchmarks, the setting of CO2 reduction targets or other measures that ensure that asset managers effectively integrate climate risks into their management of the pension fund’s investments. Measures to integrate climate risks must take into account the special investment constraints that apply to the pension fund’s investments in sovereign bonds. At the 2025 Annual General Assembly, the Board of Directors will present the above policy for integrating climate risks into the pension fund’s investments in the sovereign bond portfolio.” |
This resolution was put forward and adopted by Lægernes Pension (the pension fund for doctors).