Investor climate initiatives are facing unprecedented scrutiny at a time when the policy landscape is shifting rapidly, and the effectiveness of current investor actions is being actively questioned. Against this backdrop, this project seeks to reexamine core assumptions about the role of investors in addressing climate change and to explore what credible, evidencebased climate goals, targetsetting approaches, and actions should look like for asset owners and asset managers.
The research team, led by Professor Tom Gosling and Dr Hans Christoph Hirt, has engaged with over 60 investors across Amsterdam, London, New York, and Singapore, gathering perspectives from institutions that are participating in, have stepped back from, or have never joined climate-related initiatives.
At the heart of the project are three lines of inquiry:
- How investors should define climate goals and targets, particularly given fiduciary obligations and the tension between assetlevel and systemlevel objectives.
- Which mechanisms - such as engagement, integration, divestment, and policy advocacy - have demonstrated effectiveness to date.
- How investor collaboration can be structured to deliver impact while maintaining legitimacy and resilience.
The project’s design emphasises open dialogue under the Chatham House Rule, informed by structured pre-reading, enabling candid exchange among participants facing similar pressures and decision points. Insights from the workshops and investor interviews will inform a publicly available LSE report that provides an evidencebased framework to support more effective climate targetsetting and action by investors.
This research project is funded by Environmental Defense Fund and the Global School of Sustainability.
LSE Research Team: Professor Tom Gosling, Dr Hans-Christoph Hirt, and Dr Fernanda Gimenes.
