Julie Gorte is senior vice president for sustainable investing at Impax Asset Management LLC and Pax World Funds. She oversees environmental, social and governance-related research on prospective and current investments as well as the firm’s shareholder engagement and public policy advocacy.
Gortes recently spoke with Ceres about how she engages with companies on deforestation and climate change. What follows is a lightly edited inteview.
朱莉纳什: How does Impax approach the topic of deforestation, and why should more investors be keen to address deforestation today?
Julie Gorte:At Impax, deforestation is included in the environmental criteria we use to evaluate inclusion in our portfolio. Over the last three years, we have also increased direct engagements on deforestation due in part to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and Ceres-led engagement on deforestation with global companies.
森林砍伐对我们来说至关重要，因为避免了气候变化的灾难就像是一场Whac-a-moll的全球游戏。有助于气候变化的一切都是我们需要破坏的痣，砍伐森林和其他土地利用变化随着时间的推移变得更大。
森林殖民对三个主要原因来说至关重要。首先，来自其他行业的温室气体排放量减少，而与森林砍伐的排放具有很大稳定。第1名美国温室气体排放的贡献者曾经是电力生产，但2019年发生变化，因为电力部门的努力脱碳。在这些变化之后，供应链中的森林砍伐是对全球温室气体排放的司机的重要性。其次，森林的损失意味着我们也在失去一个重要的全球碳汇。第三，科学已经表明，如果我们继续削减森林可能会成为碳发射者的强烈可能性。这对全球气候助推器产生了令人难以置信的影响，并为气候造成毁灭性。
有助于气候变化的一切都是我们需要破坏的痣，砍伐森林和其他土地利用变化随着时间的推移变得更大。
然而，由于气候变化，森林砍伐不仅重要。森林砍伐也有助于全球生物多样性危机，危及生态系统和人民。亏损本世纪的一百万种是危机。
The electricity sector demonstrated that if companies proactively act on regulatory pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they will be better equipped to avoid future physical climate risks. Increasingly, mainstream investors are sounding the alarm that deforestation is a huge concern. The more power that we investors bring to the table, the more companies will respond.
纳什：公司如何解决 - 或者没有解决 - 森林砍伐，以及您聘用与这些公司的战略？
戈特契：我将公司归类为在三个桶中砍伐森林砍伐的回应。
The first is "a tiny portion of our supply chain comes from tropical forests." This response is very common, especially for multinational companies that have many different products and supply chains. We try to help these companies understand that even though commodities from tropical forests may represent a relatively small portion of their supply chain or overall revenue, the volume they source could still have a large impact on a particular forest biome. We tell these companies that while this may not be a major issue for them, it is still an important issue they have influence over that needs to be solved.
第二次响应是“我们解决了供应链中的许多砍伐森林原因。”我们让这些公司知道我们批准了他们所做的事情，但我们希望他们能够发挥类似的能量来解决他们尚未解决的森林砍伐原因。
可追溯性拿钱，即使是，即使是全球跨国公司，也不容易。
第三次响应 - 这真的是每个人的问题 - 是公司缺乏公司从热带森林来源的商品的可追溯性。可追溯性拿钱，即使是，即使是全球跨国公司，也不容易。
Nash: The Investor Guide differentiates between no-deforestation commitments (which do not allow for any deforestation in supply chains, whether legal or illegal) and net-zero deforestation commitments (which do allow for deforestation as long as the same area of forest lost is reforested elsewhere). The former are preferred by NGOs and investors, but the latter are more common. How do you as an investor engage with companies on these topics?
戈特契：No-deforestation is the goal. Net-zero deforestation is complicated since there is a lot we don’t know about how human activity affects the forest’s abilities to absorb or emit carbon.
For example, if a company relies on reforestation to meet its net-zero deforestation commitment, that means that the company is disturbing soil or converting forests elsewhere. The company may have calculated the amount of reforestation using dated (and now inaccurate) carbon sequestration estimates or they may have failed to address related issues, like biodiversity.
作为投资者，我们鼓励拥有净零的森林森林承诺的公司，以跟上科学。
纳什：当我们谈论温室气体排放时，我们使用类似的条款。您如何向投资者解释这些条款？
戈特契：净零排放是我们绝对需要到达2050年的地方。净零排放意味着我们不会向大气发出任何东西，我们也不是我们也没有被隔绝的氛围。这样做的一种方法是具有零排放。在这个阶段，零排放是非常艰难的，因此净零排放是共同的2050个目标。
为了获得净零的排放，我们必须尽可能多地削减排放，然后我们需要弥补剩余的排放。公司解决剩余排放的一种方式是通过购买碳抵消，这些抵消是其他人完成的排放或碳封存。当公司想要购买碳抵消时，我们要求碳抵消被认证和验证，这会肯定地提高了排放减排或碳的持续性和可行性。
Another way that companies aim to get to net-zero emissions is through carbon capture and storage technologies, which prevent greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere. Besides reforestation, no economically viable carbon capture and storage technologies exist, though a lot of research and development is underway. As investors, we support R&D, but we remind companies that they need another plan to achieve net-zero emissions in case these efforts don’t work out.
纳什：足以消除供应链森林砍伐和减少与森林砍伐相关的气候变化风险的进展
戈特契：No, our progress is not even close to where it needs to be. We have no realistic chance of staying below 1.5 degrees C and most climate scientists would say we won’t stay below 2 degrees C. In fact, supply chain risks will continue to increase until deforestation is halted and we trend toward reforestation. To make meaningful progress, we must develop a path that will get us to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Editor's note: This interview is part of Investors Talk Deforestation, a series of discussions with influential investors and partner organizations who supported the development of the Ceres Investor Guide to Deforestation and Climate Change. The guide aims to engage investors on deforestation emissions and other related risks across their portfolios and drive more corporate action on the issue. You can find coverage of past conversations with organizations including BlackRock, Compere and Green Century这里。
