This document outlines key definitions, fiduciary considerations, and investment frameworks related to climate justice, building off of IEN’s February 2022 report, Leading with Justice: Net Zero Investing & Conversations on Climate Justice.

The interconnection between climate impacts and social inequality has been well documented to create compounded portfolio risks 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. 

Read the Briefing Paper

 

Acknowledgements

This resource was developed in collaboration and consultation with IEN’s Climate Justice Task Force, a group dedicated to advancing a just transition to an equitable, low-carbon, regenerative economy.

Contributing Authors:

• Nicole Torrico, Managing Director, Intentional Endowments Network
• Julianne Zimmerman, Co-CEO, Adasina Social Capital
  

 

 

This resource was made possible due in part to support from: