Epworth Investment Management has launched its Climate Stewardship Fund to invest on behalf of charities in environmentally sound assets.

Already a campaigner for more environmental engagement with companies and avoiding investment in the worst offenders, the new fund is an evolution of this, accepting that we are now in a climate emergency and that charities want to take greater steps to ensure they are investing in a way that will benefit the planet.

The new fund aims to have a carbon footprint substantially below that of the FTSE All Share Index. It will invest with Christian ethics, seeking out companies that contribute to the transition to a lower carbon economy and engaging with portfolio companies to encourage action that reduces the risk of climate change. It will exclude companies that extract or refine fossil fuels, those companies that have material involvement in supplying them with goods or services as well as those that do not meet our bespoke Christian ethical screening process.

David Palmer, chief executive, commented: “Covid 19 has shown everyone just how quickly the world can change – and the sudden damage and disruption that can be caused to day-to-day life. It is rightly everyone’s immediate concern – but climate change remains the biggest long-term threat to our planet. The pandemic response also shows that rapid radical action in response to an existential threat is possible. That gives us hope for action on climate change.”

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