Overview

The interconnection between climate impacts and social inequality has been well documented to create compounded portfolio risks, as well as opportunities, for all investors. For institutional investors, addressing the social dimensions of the low-carbon transition is both financially material and legally prudent.

The fiduciary duty case for climate justice is compelling: climate risks represent both a systemic investment threat and a legal obligation for fiduciaries who must protect long-term value creation specifically for their beneficiaries, none of whom are immune to the effects of climate change, and some of whom are already very negatively affected. 

This Initiative connects, builds off of, and compliments IEN’s Net Zero Endowments, Investment Governance, and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives.

Participants in and outside of those Initiatives are welcome to join us as we work together to understand the material significance of these intertwined dynamics, and take informed, prudent, and suitable action accordingly.

Activities

• Regular Initiative Calls: Check Our Event Page
  
  
• Resource Development:
  
  
  • Briefing Paper: The Fiduciary Duty Case for Climate Justice (2025)
  • Leading with Justice: Net Zero Investing & Conversations on Climate Justice (2022)

The Future of Finance Podcast Series

• Fiduciary Duty series of episodes on The Future of Finance Podcast with Georges Dyer

Resources

• Sustainable Fiduciary Duty: How fiduciary duties can be a key to escaping the climate prisonersʼ dilemma | Net Zero Lawyers Alliance (Nov. 2025)
  
  
• Investor Fiduciary Duties in the Crosshairs – Targeting a Mirage | Gary, Johnson, & Zuiker (May 2025)
  
  
• What Does It Look Like for Asset Owners to Lead Right Now? An Analysis Looking at ESG and System-Level Investing | Wespath & The Church of England Pension Board (Oct. 2025)
  
  
• The Long Term Will Be Decided Now: Why Climate Risk Demands System-Level Action from Investors | Sierra Club (Jun. 2025)
  
  
• A Refreshing Look at Fiduciary Duty | The Shareholder Commons (Dec. 2024)
  
  
• The Investor Case for Fighting Inequality: How Inequality Harms Investors and What Investors Should Do About It | Oxfam & Rights CoLab (Sep. 2024)
  
  
• Climate Change & The Engagement Gap: Why Investors Must Do More than Move the Needle, and How They Can | The Shareholder Commons (Sep. 2022) 
  
  
• A Legal Framework for Impact | Freshfields (Jul. 2021) 
  
  
• System-Level Investing Resources & Case Studies | The Investment Integration Project - TIIP (2015-present)
  
  

Related Past IEN Initiatives

• IEN Climate Justice Taskforce
• IEN Net Zero Endowment Initiative
• IEN Investment Governance Initiative
• IEN Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative 

Supporters

Contact

To learn more about this initiative, please contact Bella Alvarez at [email protected].