The government has been urged to support auto-enrolment default pension schemes that focus on sustainable investments by the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF).

A UKSIF survey found that two thirds of people aged 18-25 want their savings to have a positive impact as well as making money.

Almost a third said that they cared more about their savings making a difference than increasing in value.

UKSIF noted that the number of UK workers saving into a pension scheme has risen to a record 84 per cent, with workers investing more than £100bn per year.

However, it found that the majority of people did not know where their pension savings are invested.

Speaking to the Commons Treasury Select Committee, UKSIF chief executive, Simon Howard, said: “We know millennials care deeply about the environment, yet their pensions are often invested in companies that pollute the environment and contribute to climate change.

“Sustainable auto-enrolment would give people a pension system that respects their values and it would boost sustainable finance in the UK. It would allow people to save for the future without selling it short.”

The Commons Treasury Select Committee is currently investigating sustainability and finance and was told by UKSIF that the public increasingly expects financial services, including the pensions industry, to play a role in supporting the shift to a more sustainable economy.

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