Press releases
Legal & General publishes 2021 Climate Report
Addressing climate change is a strategic priority for Legal & General, and we are pleased to report that during 2021 we made further progress towards achieving our climate-related goals.
16 Mar 2022
The annual Climate Report details our progress, key performance data, and future plans. We have strengthened our goals and are committed to decarbonising the assets on our balance sheet and our operations. This year’s report sets out our proposed ‘journey to net zero’ with various interim milestones. We are also in the process of setting and externally validating science-based targets (SBTs) and will disclose our targets in early 2023.
Progress made in 2021
In 2021, we have:
- Reduced the greenhouse gases associated with our investment portfolio by 17%
- Reduced our investment portfolio implied warming potential by 0.13 degrees Celsius
- Rated 1,000 companies with our Climate Impact Pledge
- Reduced our operational footprint by 3%
- Created our Destination@Risk toolkit which helps us to understand the implications of possible climate pathways, and use these to mitigate climate risk and support climate opportunities
We have now made £1.4 billion in renewable energy investments to date. We have also tightened our exclusion policies for high carbon investments, as well as launching investment products with accelerated net zero targets. We consider our main exposures to climate change risks and opportunities to be through our proprietary assets, and our investment strategy sets out ways to mitigate and reduce this exposure.
Focusing on the future
Our climate transition strategy is built of three pillars of Invest, Influence and Operate. There is still a long way to go in order to meet our climate goals, and the report also sets out our targets for the long and short-term future.
We recognise the role of international leadership and collaboration in delivering a decarbonised future. In 2021, we were at the heart of COP26, and we look forward to engaging with COP27 and using our influence to encourage progress.
Sir Nigel Wilson, Group CEO: “Sustainability is central to our purpose and we will continue to do everything we can to help translate the COP26 promises into realities over the coming years. Achieving net zero will require an astonishing feat of international cooperation and coordination – perhaps the greatest ever.”
Sir John Kingman, Chairman “We will, of course, continue to use our influence as a large global investor to promote a ‘just transition’ to a low carbon economy. A ‘just transition’ must be an inclusive transition. We regard active engagement as an effective way of achieving climate goals rather than divesting from high-carbon companies. Leaving the toughest issues to others is not the kind of inclusive capitalism that we regard as the best platform to achieve net zero by 2050.”
Further information
John Godfrey
Director of Levelling Up (2006 - 2023)
Group Communications
T: 020 3124 2090
Notes to editors
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management1 of which 40% is international. We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions. We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income. Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders. Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.
1Data as at 31 December 2023.