(Boursier.com) — As of July 2022, as part of its new oil and gas strategy, Macif will exclude from its future investments the main companies developing new oil and gas production capacities, as well as those for which more than 5% of the turnover is linked to the production of unconventional hydrocarbons in their broadest sense.
“With its new oil and gas policy, Macif is accelerating its energy transition and pursuing its decarbonization strategy with 11 billion euros in green investments under management. We are thus continuing our actions for a fairer and more sustainable world for our planet, because protecting the present and enabling the future for all of us and future generations, in accordance with our raison d’être” declared Philippe Perrault, President of Macif.
On the occasion of the release of its 6th Responsible Investment report, Macif announces its new exclusion strategy in the oil and gas sector.
These commitments complement those made by Macif in 2020 to contribute to the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5oC by the end of the century. They thus reinforce Macif’s position as a financial player committed to the energy transition in its socially responsible investment activities.
This policy is based on three pillars:
– financing the energy transition
– engagement and dialogue with issuers to support their energy transition initiatives
– and the exclusion of the less virtuous.
Macif’s new oil and gas policy: a strategy to exclude all unconventional hydrocarbons
Oil, shale gas, tar sands…: activities related to these unconventional hydrocarbons contribute massively to climate change. The International Energy Agency in its Net Zero 2050 scenario recommends stopping the development of new oil and gas projects.
The new oil and gas policy of Macif d’exclusion is based on the exhaustive consideration of unconventional hydrocarbons: oil and gas from hydraulic fracturing, shale gas, extra heavy oil, methane, ultra-deep drilling and drilling in the Arctic) and on the exclusion of companies developing new oil and gas production capacities.
Macif undertakes to reduce its exposure to the companies most involved in the production of unconventional oil and gas, energies whose extraction has the most deleterious impacts on the climate and the environment: from July 2022, it will exclude from its new investments companies whose turnover derives more than 5% from unconventional hydrocarbons, in their broadest sense, as well as those whose investment strategy is incompatible with a scientifically recognized carbon neutrality trajectory.
In order to support issuers in their transition process and to align its investments with the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero scenario, Macif, through its management company OFI AM, will engage with issuers involved in projects to expand their production capacities in order to ask them to implement a transition process. Issuers that do not implement this approach will likely be excluded at the end of the engagement process in 2025.
2021 Responsible Investment Report: €11 billion in green investments for Macif, which is pursuing its decarbonization strategy
Macif is committed to contributing to the European objective of carbon neutrality by 2050 by activating all the levers at its disposal:
-An exit strategy from thermal coal and unconventional hydrocarbons by 2030: in 2021, Macif reinforced the ambition of its coal exit strategy with stricter exclusion thresholds in 2021.
-Financing of companies committed to the energy transition through investments in private equity and unlisted debt.
– Optimizing the energy intensity of its asset portfolio.
Macif has also undertaken to follow OFI AM’s Energy Transition analyzes (97% coverage rate at the end of 2021) and to exclude from its investments issuers classified as high risk following this analysis.
Aware of the urgency of taking action to combat climate change and of the influence that institutional investors can have in this area, Macif has mandated OFI AM to create a carbon-neutral laboratory fund. Macif and its subsidiaries have invested 50 million euros in it. Its objective is to achieve a globally carbon-neutral investment in 2050, while investing in activities representative of the real economy.
Direct impact funds: Macif is committed to SWIFT funds
In 2019, the first direct impact investment fund, SWEN Impact Fund For Transition (SWIFT), dedicated to renewable gas infrastructure in the territories was launched. At the end of 2021, this fund had contributed to the financing of thirty methanizers and twenty recovery units in France and Europe, thereby contributing to the production of renewable energy. In 2021, the successor fund was launched. The latter will devote more than half of its investments to biomethane and an increasing share of these to green hydrogen. Macif and its subsidiaries have undertaken to invest 85 million euros in these funds.
Protecting the Ocean is also protecting the Climate
The Blue Ocean fund was launched in September 2021 at the World Conservation Congress. This is the first innovative European impact fund to support start-ups working for the protection and regeneration of the ocean. This positive impact fund benefits from the scientific expertise of IFREMER. In 2021, Macif and its subsidiaries have committed to investing 25 million euros in this fund.
In 2020, Macif and its subsidiaries, through OFI AM, initiated a dialogue process with a list of issuers targeted for their activities within its portfolio, in order to fight against plastic pollution. This campaign made it possible to identify the good practices of certain emitters, but also the difficulties encountered by some, due in particular to the versatility of plastic and the difficulty in finding alternatives covering all of its applications.
At the end of 2021, 170 million euros had been invested by Macif and its subsidiaries in a World Bank bond dedicated to access to clean water and the health of the oceans.