UK - More than 70% of pension schemes do not actively pursue environmental issues, research from eShare has revealed.

Findings from 'The Big Green Survey' showed 94% of pension schemes believe they could do more to become environmentally friendly, although 7% of the respondents claimed they were not interested in any green issues.

eShare, a provider of governance software products for pension schemes, said although it understands the difficulty of considering the environmental impact in all scheme operations, the results of the survey "came as a surprise".

The company conducted the survey of 192 UK pension schemes in October 2007, in an attempt to discover how eco-friendly the pensions industry actually is, but admitted it expected trustees to set a "greener example".

That said, although 71% do not actively pursue environmental issues, eShare discovered 50% of schemes are now using technology to provide trustees with shareholder meetings information, which suggests attitudes towards technology are changing as more people opt-in to receive electronic information. 

Alister Esam, managing director of eShare, said: "Trustees are in a position of authority in society and act on behalf of scheme members.  As such we did expect them to be setting a 'greener' example."

"Schemes should really act now, introducing green initiatives to become socially aware, protecting the environment for future generations," he added.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Nyree Stewart on + 44 (0)20 7261 4618 or email nyree.stewart@ipe.com



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