Sustainable Investing

Climate transition benchmarks

Climate transition benchmarks are indices of equities or corporate bonds which aim to assist in meeting the decarbonization objectives set by the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan. They aim to promote sustainable investment in companies that are helping to combat global warming, principally by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU defines a climate transition benchmark as one “where the underlying assets are selected, weighted or excluded in such a manner that the resulting benchmark portfolio is on a decarbonization trajectory and is also constructed in accordance with the minimum standards laid down in the delegated acts”.

Index providers who wish to offer one must meet the standards of the EU Benchmarks Regulation, which was updated in 2020 to provide a framework for climate-specific indices against which the performance of investment strategies could be judged. This led to the creation of the EU Climate Transition Benchmark and the EU Paris-Aligned Benchmark. These pursue similar objectives but vary in their level of ambition.


Creating returns that benefit the world we live in

  • A Climate Transition Benchmark incorporates specific objectives related to emission reductions and the transition to a low-carbon economy (based on the scientific evidence of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) through the selection and weighting of underlying constituents. At least a 30% reduction in carbon versus the investable universe is required, followed by a 7% year-on-year decarbonization trajectory.

  • A Paris-Aligned Benchmark is specifically aligned to the Paris Agreement goals that seeks to limit the rise in global temperatures to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to keep the rise to 1.5°C. This includes a more ambitious 50% reduction in carbon versus the investable universe, followed by 7% decarbonization annually. Constituents should therefore be on track to be able to do this through their decarbonization efforts.

As there was no global benchmark for climate bonds, Robeco created a Paris Aligned Benchmark in conjunction with Solactive, a German provider of financial indices. These are the indices against which the performance of the Robeco Climate Global Fixed Income strategy is measured, rather than the usual benchmarks used for credit strategies, such as the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate (corporate) Index.

See also:

Paris-aligned benchmarks Paris Agreement Greenhouse gas emissions | GHG emissions Global warming Climate change


Let's keep the conversation going

Keep track of fast-moving events in sustainable and quantitative investing, trends and credits with our newsletters.

Stay updated
Robeco

Robeco aims to enable its clients to achieve their financial and sustainability goals by providing superior investment returns and solutions.

Important information This disclaimer applies to any documents and the verbal or written comments of any person in presentations or webinars on this website and taken together is referred to herein as the “Information”. The services to which the Information relate are NOT FOR RETAIL CLIENTS - The information contained in the Website is solely intended for professional investors, defined as investors which (1) qualify as professional clients within the meaning of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), (2) have requested to be treated as professional clients within the meaning of the MiFID or (3) are authorized to receive such information under any other applicable laws and must not be relied or acted upon by any other persons. This Information does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any financial product, and may not be relied upon in connection with the purchase or sale of any financial product. You are cautioned against using this Information as the basis for making a decision to purchase any financial product. To the extent that you rely on the Information in connection with any investment decision, you do so at your own risk. The Information does not purport to be complete on any topic addressed. The Information may contain data or analysis prepared by third parties and no representation or warranty about the accuracy of such data or analysis is provided.

In all cases where historical performance is presented, please note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results and should not be relied upon as the basis for making an investment decision. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested. Neither Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. nor any of its affiliates guarantees the performance or the future returns of any investments. If the currency in which the past performance is displayed differs from the currency of the country in which you reside, then you should be aware that due to exchange rate fluctuations the performance shown may increase or decrease if converted into your local currency. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. (“Robeco”) expressly prohibits any redistribution of the Information without the prior written consent of Robeco. The Information is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use is contrary to law, rule or regulation. Certain information contained in the Information includes calculations or figures that have been prepared internally and have not been audited or verified by a third party. Use of different methods for preparing, calculating or presenting information may lead to different results. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. is authorised as a manager of UCITS and AIFs by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets and subject to limited regulation in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request.