Make My Money Matter’s (MMMM) Green Pensions Charter has been signed by 11 more UK companies, including household names such as Tesco and Travis Perkins.

The charter was launched in May and calls on organisations to make their pensions more green in an effort to mount pressure on the industry to make default schemes green ahead of COP26 in Glasgow this year.

As well as supermarket giant Tesco and hardware retailer Travis Perkins, the newly announced signatories are Mother, Anthesis UK, International Institute for Environment and Development, Ovo, Bethnal Green Ventures, SouthPole, The Panoply, Tred and Quadrature Capital.

Existing signees include Ikea, Oxfam, Brewdog and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

MMMM cofounder, Richard Curtis, said: “With a Glasgow-based COP26 on the horizon, leadership from UK businesses and our pension industry is crucial. By committing to make their schemes green through ambitious carbon reduction targets, we can make our money matter and build a world that is fit for retirement.

“We hope that more and more companies follow in the footsteps of Tesco, Wickes and Travis Perkins in signing our charter and using their pension power to build a better world.”

He pointed out that 17 major providers had made net zero commitments since MMMM’s launch of the charter and £400bn had been “committed to saving our planet”, although more than £2trn of UK pension money was still “failing to address the climate crisis”.

Tesco CFO, Imran Nawaz, said: “In delivering our members’ pensions, we know that investing responsibly is a key priority for our colleagues.

"Tesco is committed to tackling climate change, and as part of our broader approach to responsible investment, our scheme’s commitment to transition towards net zero is a very important part of that.”

Travis Perkins head of pensions and financial wellbeing, Paul Williams, commented: 'Signing up to the Green Pensions Charter will empower us as colleagues to make positive investment choices - another way for us to support our sustainable business agenda, Building for Better, in practice.

“Climate change concerns us all, and we see this as part of our commitment to leading on this agenda by driving meaningful change and meeting the growing expectations from our colleagues, customers and the communities where we live and work.”

Share Story: