Global insurance giant Axa on Wednesday unveiled a swathe of measures to fight climate change, led by a total pullout from coal-related investments in coal by 2040.
"Today we are launching a new phase in our climate strategy to accelerate our contribution to the transition towards a low-carbon and resilient economy, notably by focusing our sustainable finance efforts towards the energy transition of major industries," chief executive Thomas Buberl said in a statement.
Axa said that as a global investor it had the weight to lead collective action as it criticised "current worldwide coal strategies (as) wholly inconsistent with climate goals."
Axa said it was embarking on "a comprehensive approach", excluding coal investment and underwriting and launching Transition Bonds, "used exclusively to finance energy transition projects, encouraging the move towards low-carbon energy technologies".
Axa said it was committed to aligning its investments with the 2015 Paris Agreement and to achieving a 1.5-degree Celsius warming limit by 2050, doubling its green investment target from 12 billion euros ($13.2 billion) in 2020 to 24 billion in 2023.
Celine Soubranne, Axa's chief corporate responsibility officer, indicated the 2020 target had already been achieved.
The company said it would entirely exit coal investments in developed countries by 2030 and by 2040 in the rest of the world.
Axa's current investment portfolio worth 600 billion euros comprises investments in a business environment which, without action, is set to lift global temperatures by about three degrees Celsius.
It said action on coal was urgent, since it is "the largest single source of the global temperature increase," emitting vast amounts of carbon dioxide when burned.
The company said it had already set aside a 100 million euros tranche of investment to convert boats now powered by fossil fuels to natural gas and to help energy firms in Chile and Indonesia switch to gas.
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