The UN-convened Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI) has released a framework designed to support policymakers in identifying and addressing potential negative impacts of the net zero transition across all segments of society. Details are published in a new paper which also aims to inform investors’ engagements with policymakers on transition-related social issues. “Investors play a pivotal role in supporting the transition by engaging with policymakers to develop socially conscious transition policies,” said Margarita Pirovska, the PRI’s Director of Global Policy. “The economic transition is an opportunity to build a model for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth, but only if we account for the socio-economic implications of the transition and broaden the scope of stakeholders to consider society as a whole.” A whole-of-government policy approach is needed to ensure an effective economic transition, the report noted. The PRI’s next priorities are to engage with policymakers at the international and national level to position the economic transition as a central rather than secondary goal of public policy, the investor body said. “The global energy transition is all-encompassing and can only be successful if people are at the heart of it,” said Maria Nazarova-Doyle, Global Head of Sustainable Investment at IFM Investors. “A step-up in policy levers is urgently required to ensure this enormous societal transformation is smooth and successful.”
