Most of the major buyout firms have refused to join Carney’s Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), a coalition of asset managers, banks and insurance companies representing $130 trillion in assets.
Some of the private equity firms highlight other climate initiatives they have adopted. They privately argue that their business of constantly buying and selling companies makes it difficult to make a firm commitment to GFANZ’s primary goal of reducing the carbon emissions of their investment portfolio to net-zero by 2050. , in accordance with the Paris Climate Treaty.
Carney, a former Bank of England governor who launched GFANZ last year, is due to meet senior executives from some of the world’s biggest private equity firms, including Blackstone Inc, BC Partners and KKR, on May 11 in London. , the sources said.
The sources requested anonymity as the meeting is confidential. A KKR spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Some 164 private equity firms have joined the Initiative Climate International (iC International), an association of buyout firms that “seek to better understand and manage the risks associated with climate change”, according to its website.
iC International calls on its members to “contribute” to helping the world meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, but unlike GFANZ, it sets no binding targets.
GFANZ said it plans to release a series of frameworks, white papers and other guidance to help its members achieve their climate goals as it prepares for the upcoming UN climate summit in Egypt. in November.