As legally required, the Scheme is publishing its first TCFD report which details the actions the Trustee is taking in order to ensure that the risks and opportunities presented by climate change are appropriately factored into the management of the Scheme. The TCFD framework covers four broad categories:
- Governance: around climate-related risks and opportunities
- Strategy: the actual and potential impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on the strategy and financial plans of the scheme
- Risk management: how the Scheme identifies, assesses, and manages climate-related risks
- Metrics and targets: the metrics and targets used to assess and manage climate-related risks and opportunities.
The report (below) sets out the Trustee's approach in these four areas and covers the Scheme’s Defined Benefit Sections. One of the aims of this Report is to increase the reporting of climate-related financial risks and opportunities to ensure climate change is being adequately considered, as a material financial risk and opportunity for pension schemes. The Regulations are in their infancy and the Trustee recognises that this is a developing area to which it is giving due focus and attention.
The Scheme’s investment strategy and governance
The Trustee has identified climate change, alongside other Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors, as an important risk and opportunity that needs management over the long term. The Trustee has had investment training from the Scheme’s investment adviser (WTW) on climate risk and the requirements of the TCFD. Given the pace of progress around sustainable investment, trustee training on climate and ESG has increased and is expected to remain a priority in the future.
The Trustee’s key investment policies (including those for climate change) are detailed in the Trustee’s Statement of Investment Principles (SIP) at:
