Largest group ever of world investors warns a new global climate deal must be 'strong and binding' to unlock a low carbon future

MarketWatch: More than 130 leading investors, representing assets worth $6.4 trillion, today warned world leaders that any global agreement on climate change must be strong and binding to guarantee necessary financing for global emissions reduction and adaptation efforts, and that the financial crisis should not delay efforts to address rising global temperatures.

…The Statement was sent by some of the world's largest asset managers and pension funds, collectively representing $6.4 trillion in assets. It was co-ordinated by three leading investor groups on climate change (the US-based Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), the European Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), and the Investors Group on Climate Change (IGCC) in Australia and New Zealand).

…The Statement outlines in detail what investors are looking for from policymakers in order to allocate capital in a way that supports both the transformation to a low carbon economy and the development of adaptation measures. This includes:

- A binding global target for reducing greenhouse gas emission reductions informed by the latest available scientific evidence for avoiding dangerous climate change (which suggests that global greenhouse gas emissions must decline by 50-85% by 2050 against a base year of 2000)....

- Clear measures to reverse deforestation and value forests as carbon sinks;

- A commitment to adaptation in order to prepare for, and respond to the physical impacts of climate change...