The Pension Boards' Investment Team recaps Climate Week NYC, the largest annual climate event that includes over 600 events and activities across the City of New York. The events provide information on the Pension Boards' work in the areas of climate change, sustainable investments, responsible investments, affordable housing, and the investments we manage on behalf of our members.

During the 79th UN General Assembly, held the week of September 20-27, the Pension Boards Investment team including Lan Cai, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Minoti Dhanaraj, Director of Responsible Investing, and Azim Ahmed, Associate, attended several events during Climate Week NYC.

The Sustainable Investment Forum North America event featured an inspiring line-up of investment managers, asset owners, corporate leaders, policymakers, academics, among other speakers, who focused on navigating the regulatory environment—ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) disclosures, the importance of data consistency and simplicity, and cultivating relationships locally and globally.

The Business Council for International Understanding event in partnership with Nuveen, a global investment manager, focused on achieving U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 11— making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Thought leaders, government officials, and investors discussed advancing public-private partnership to create greater equity and access to affordable housing.

“At the Goldman Sachs Global Sustainability Forum, it was encouraging to witness certain leading corporations actively carry out decarbonization plans for Scope 1, 2 and 3*. In many cases, the Inflation Reduction Act in the U. S. and EU Emission Trading System have provided game changer subsidy for greenhouse emission reductions.”
—Lan Cai
Deputy Chief Investment Officer

“During the Sustainable Investment Forum N.A., I found the panel on ‘What do leading investors in North America need from policymakers on net zero?’ particularly insightful. The panel moderator, Remco Fischer, Head of Climate at UNEP FI commented there was a need for a war on emissions for the good of the economy, and it is important to prevent existential thresholds that can disrupt existence.

Peter Cashion, Managing Investment Director, Sustainable Investments at CalPERS shared more details of their “$100B Climate Action Plan” by 2030.

Rev. Kirsten Spalding, VP, Ceres Investor Network shared on the “Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis” released during Climate Week, which is calling on governments globally to unlock private capital flows to the net zero transition, including mandatory reporting, and the implementation of transition strategies to decarbonize high-emitting sectors. Rev. Spalding also highlighted the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and how other countries needed similar plans.”
—Minoti Dhanaraj, Director, Responsible Investing

“Among a lot of great learnings from the conference some that stood out for me included a commitment from Dr. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors at African Export-Import Bank, to partner with investors to address affordable housing issues in Africa; willingness of institutions such as Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) to be a resource to authorities and organizations in addressing affordable housing challenges; and commitment from institutions such as California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) by being a large investor in the space.”
— Azim Ahmed, Associate, CFA®

“Additionally, at the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities event, I observed the pressing need for affordable housing both locally and globally. Deputy Mayor of Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce in New York City, Maria Torress-Springer, shared unpleasant data including that rental vacancy is at a 60-year low in New York City at 1.4%, with one in three residents paying over 40% of their income in rent. Additionally, in one night close to 60,000 women and children are staying in shelters. To combat this, the New York City Mayor has a goal to create 500,000 new homes over the next decade.

Worldwide there is a need for 1.6 billion affordable housing units, which is expected to grow to three billion by 2030. As one can see, this is a pressing need, which the Pension Boards investment staff is considering as they look at new investments in this space.”
—Minoti Dhanaraj, Director, Responsible Investing

*Carbon intensity is reported via three different scopes: Scope 1 relates to emissions from owned or controlled resources of a firm; Scope 2 relates to the indirect emission from the generation or purchase of energy; and Scope 3 relates to all other indirect emissions and is challenging to determine/calculate.

Investments with Your Values in Mind
The Pension Boards’ Investment Program aims to provide the highest level of investment performance within the guidelines of the organization and invests assets on behalf of its members for positive impact. We emphasize and support our shared United Church of Christ values such as sacredness of creation, human rights, and underserved and underrepresented populations. Learn more about the Pension Boards’ work through the 2024-25 Sustainability Report, Why Sustainability Matters.