ACC going green

Plans to knock back corporate greenhouse gas emissions 60% within five years are part of the Accident Compensation Corporation’s new climate change policy framework.

ACC has $46 billion worth of investments to pay for injuries, some held in equities for which it plans to reduce the carbon intensity by 50% before 2030.

About 3000 tonnes of CO2 annually come from travel via vehicle and aircraft but it doesn’t appear to specify whether EVs will be used in setting out its range of targets and how they will be achieved.

Between 2018 and 2019, the agency halved the emissions produced from its vehicle fleet.

Equities in the fund are estimated to produce about 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

ACC will report its progress annually.

Green MP Chloe Swarbrick reckons ACC should commit to divesting fully from fossil fuel investments.

She’s asking finance minister Grant Robertson to get ACC and other crown agencies to avoid investments in fossil fuels and has a member’s bill to get public fund managers to divest completely from companies directly involved in the mining and production of such fuels.

Since December, ACC no longer invests in any company that makes more than 30% of its revenue from coal burned to make electricity, adding 54 companies to its exclusion list as a result.

“As stewards of the ACC scheme, and by placing a focus on environmental sustainability and reducing carbon emissions, we’re demonstrating our obligation to the wellbeing of future generations,” ACC board chair Dame Paula Rebstock says.

ACC says it’s working towards New Zealand’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.

“Achieving these targets will require hard work and some significant changes over the next decade,” Rebstock says.

“We’ll be engaging with key stakeholders before we provide further information on the framework. This will be made public in coming weeks.”

ACC chief executive Scott Pickering says the adoption of the framework continues the efforts the corporation has been making in addressing the risks associated with climate change.

Carbon intensity in ACC’s global equities portfolio has fallen 19% over the past 10 years. Most of the investment growth is now in low-carbon activities, such as technology and other services, he says.