2DII sets up advisory group to inform PACTA governance overhaul

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Think tank 2° Investing Initiative (2DII) has launched an advisory group to advise on a new multi-stakeholder governance approach for the PACTA climate scenario analysis and alignment methodology.

The group includes Lars Erik Mangset, chief adviser, climate change at Norwegian asset owner KLP, and experts from the NGO, academic and government/international organisation sectors, all of whom are acting in a personal capacity.

Launched in 2015, PACTA is a tool that measures the alignment of corporate bonds, loans, and listed equities in eight sectors with various climate change scenarios consistent with the Paris Agreement.

Supervisors that have partnered with the think tank to use PACTA include EIOPA, and the Dutch central bank, while the Austrian and Swiss governments have used it for pension fund assessments.

2DII said that historically, despite PACTA having been developed in partnership with several stakeholders, it had acted as the main gatekeeper of the methodology.

“However, as PACTA’s capabilities, userbase, and range of methodological choices have expanded, it is time to expand the base of decision-makers beyond 2DII and its team,” it said.

The think tank said the advisory group’s core mission would be to propose a long-term governance framework, which would in turn help ensure the methodology’s scientific integrity and independence; promote co-ownership of the open-source methodology by its stakeholders; and contribute to the harmonisation of the growing number of climate alignment concepts and methodological choices.

“As asset owners are seeking to align their investment portfolio to the ambitions in the Paris agreement, it is critical that we move towards a standardisation on how such Paris alignment assessment should be conducted,” said KLP’s Mangset.

“The combination of scientific integrity, access to actual company-level climate data, and public accessibility positions PACTA in a leadership position.

He added: “A multi-stakeholder governance approach ensures that different stakeholders’ views are considered, which increases the uptake of this alignment tool in the years to come.”

Advisory group members and observers

Members: