NETHERLANDS - The €218bn Dutch pension fund ABP is reviewing its investments in energy, Rob Lake, the scheme's head of sustainability, has said.

Speaking at the Carbon Disclosure Project's Dutch launch in Amsterdam yesterday, Lake said ABP has set up a large scale "cross-departmental research exercise" carried out by its research department, to try to understand the commercial opportunities and risks of climate change.

According to Lake, the probe is running "in close parallel with our project to review investments in energy."

He added: "If you are thinking about investing in energy over the coming decades, you certainly need to understand the implications of climate change."

This research will help the fund determine how much money should be put into asset classes such as coal, oil or renewables, and help decision-making in relation to investment timing and commercial viability.

"We are now trying to incorporate, systematically, an understanding of climate change risk and opportunity into the research that we do on individual companies and, indeed, on other types of assets, not just companies," said Lake.

ABP has already identified investment opportunities linked to solutions for climate change.

The fund has already invested €500m invested in carbon funds and trade emission credits, €250m is invested in clean technology private equity, and around €100m has recently been invested in a new fund which will support renewable energy infrastructure, outlined Lake.

That said, he told IPE the review is unlikely to result in a separate energy portfolio.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Carolyn Bandel on +44 (0)20 7261 4622 or email carolyn.bandel@ipe.com

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