While the COVID-19 pandemic threw the world into turmoil in 2020, another crisis reached a new and unfortunate milestone. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that 2020 was the second warmest year on record – further evidence of our global community’s ongoing climate crisis. These mounting statistics prompt Mercy Investment Services and other concerned investors to continue to use investments to push companies toward positive environmental change.
Mercy Investment Services actively participates in Climate Action 100+ (CA100+), an initiative of more than 300 investors engaging 100 of the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters, accounting for two-thirds of global emissions. CA100+ recently released the Climate Action 100+ Net-Zero Company Benchmark, which evaluates these companies on their plans for net-zero transition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving governance, and strengthening climate-related financial disclosures. The report details that some CA100+ companies Mercy engages – AES, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines – and other companies have made long-term net-zero commitments, but the report also stresses that all companies must shift their focus to short- and medium-term goals and ensure they have strategies in place to make the commitments a reality.
Mercy Investment Services will use the benchmark for ongoing dialogues with these and other companies to assess how they mitigate their negative impacts and contribute to solutions to the climate crisis.