The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) has published a draft of the fourth version of its Target Setting Protocol (TSP) this week, outlining details of how investors should get private debt funds – including real estate private debt funds – to align with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals.

The UN-convened NZAOA, whose 86 institutional investor members have committed to transitioning their portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, on Tuesday announced the opening of a public consultation on the fourth edition of its TSP.

The protocol outlines how members should set their science-based intermediate targets, and is being constructed in stages, with each new version aimed at bolstering the framework by incorporating new methodologies and approaches, according to the alliance.

The updates in the draft of the fourth edition are about expanding the asset classes covered, it said, specifically adding target-setting methodologies for private debt funds, real estate debt funds and residential mortgages, including approaches on embodied carbon and energy efficiency.

The draft also includes performance assessment of sovereign debt holdings through qualitative indicators, though sovereign debt was addressed in the second version of the TSP in terms of accounting approach and an emission reporting framework for sovereign debt was included in the third version.

The alliance is holding a webinar about the latest protocol draft on 5 September, and the consultation will end of 29 September, according to the announcement.

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