GLOBAL - The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is planning to implement an environmental, social and governance (ESG) campaign that has been developed in partnership with think tank Ceres.
CalPERS is looking to complete a process for integrating ESG actions into investment decisions in a uniform way by August.
The system will integrate all CalPERS asset classes, which include public and private equity, real estate, fixed income, inflation-linked commodities, infrastructure and forestland.
The pension fund aims to present its first annual responsible investment report to the board in September. The report will provide details on how CalPERS can integrate ESG solutions.
Additionally, the Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability will be integrated into CalPERS' corporate governance engagements with public companies.
In terms of collaboration, CalPERS will work alongside the California State Teachers' Retirement System and other pension funds that have signed the Investor Network on Climate Risk to encourage Russell 1000 companies to address environmental sustainability issues.
Speaking at a conference this week, CalPERS chief executive Anne Stausboll said: "Two dozen top executives from Fortune 500s, organised labour, foundations, investment firms and pension funds discussed the urgency of the challenges before us and what we could do collectively and individually to catalyse global-scale action."
She added: "Each of the signatories is making a specific commitment. The letter will request that their management teams and boards address sustainability issues across their organisations - from the boardroom, to their operations, across their supply chains."
CalPERS is continuing its 'green' investment strategy. The Californian pension fund has invested as much as $1.5bn (€1bn) in private equity clean technology and more than $500m in an internally managed public stocks environmental index fund.
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