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Sees carbon as integrated value driver for investors
BOSTON,
April 6, 2022 /CNW/ -
Manulife Investment Management announced today new guidelines for
managing quality carbon credits for timberland and agriculture. The
new principles have already been integrated into Manulife
Investment Management's timberland acquisition screening for both
existing carbon projects and new carbon project development
opportunities. They address the firm's intention to generate
high-integrity, high-quality carbon credits for investors and the
environment.
"We recognize the demand for carbon offsets that is currently
primarily driven by corporate net zero commitments; however, it is
anticipated that voluntary carbon offset demand will increase by a
factor of up to 100 times by 2050," said Thomas G. Sarno, global head of timberland
investments, Manulife Investment Management. "The increased demand
is helping to move the carbon markets toward greater transparency
and standardization for sequestration and is another way for
clients to put capital to work while making a positive impact."
"We're confident that through the continued focus on natural
capital accounting and applications of new and existing science to
measure carbon capture in soil and generate resulting carbon value
that we'll deliver on the enormous potential for agriculture to
contribute to the carbon sequestration goals sought by investors,"
added Oliver S. Williams IV, CFA,
global head of agricultural investments, Manulife Investment
Management.
Over the past year, an internal working group at Manulife
Investment Management conducted a landscape analysis of the leading
carbon standards that various independent groups have created. The
working group then developed a set of carbon principles aligned
with the preliminary Core Carbon Principles created by the
Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market—a recently
launched governance body evolving from the Taskforce on Scaling
Voluntary Carbon Markets. The firm includes—but does not limit—its
new carbon guidelines to key principles of additionality,
permanence, leakage, and accurate monitoring, reporting, and
verification. The internal carbon standards working group will only
recommend opportunities if the project closely adheres to the new
guidelines.
Under these guidelines the carbon credits are required to
be:
- Real—They must genuinely reduce carbon emissions and contribute
to global climate change initiatives
- Based on realistic and credible baselines—The baselines must be
defined as levels of emissions normally occurring in a
business-as-usual context
- Monitored, reported, and verified—Using recognized and
certified intermediaries, platforms, and protocols, run by public
or private organizations for verification, issuance, and credit
trading
- Permanent—Carbon is sequestered for the long term for true
climate benefit
- Additional—Additive carbon sequestration above and beyond the
status quo that wouldn't otherwise have occurred in the absence of
carbon finance
- Able to minimize, and account for, any leakage—Calculate and
minimize emissions that may transfer to adjacent or nearby
locations that aren't participating
- Only counted once—Unambiguous attribution of the credit
- Focused on co-benefits and doing no net harm—Focus on
additional social and ecological benefits such as improving
biodiversity and minimizing negative externalities that may result
from carbon project activities
- Managed to avoid enabling greenwashing for carbon offset buyers
and carbon inset transfer recipients—Rigorously screen potential
credit buyers and recipients for tangible commitments to and
progress toward climate action
"Manulife Investment Management has managed its traditional
sustainable timberland and agriculture investment strategies for
more than 30 years, and the opportunity for optionality through
carbon capture is another way to generate value for clients," said
Eric Cooperstrom, managing director, impact investing and natural
climate solutions, Manulife Investment Management. "We're working
on developing even more intense carbon-value investment
capabilities, and the implementation of our new carbon credit
guidelines provides additional rigor to instill investor confidence
in these emerging natural climate solution strategies."
Manulife Investment Management manages approximately 6 million
acres of timberland across the United
States, Canada,
New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, and Chile. It also oversees approximately 400,000
acres of prime farmland in major agricultural regions of
the United States and in
Canada, Chile, and Australia. The firm's comprehensive private
markets businesses include private equity and credit,
infrastructure, real estate, timberland, and agriculture with a
total AUM of US$59.2 billion globally
(as of 12/31/21).
About Manulife Investment Management
Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the
global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial
Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial
stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve
individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide.
Headquartered in Toronto, our
leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened
by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies. We complement
these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated
asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing
responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global
frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with
companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high
standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we
believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace
retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our
retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help
their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement.
Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For
additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.
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SOURCE Manulife Investment Management