Major UK pension funds worth nearly £900bn commit to net zero

Church of England, Lloyds and the National Grid among those pledging to meet 2050 target

Major pension funds that own assets worth 870bn, including those of the Church of England, Lloyds Banking Group and the National Grid, have committed to cutting the carbon emissions of their portfolios to net zero by 2050 or earlier, in another sign of big investors' increasing focus on the climate crisis.

Pension providers Scottish Widows, Royal London and Nest and a clutch of public sector pension funds from the UK to Scandinavia and New York were also among the investors that have pledged to align their portfolios to the Paris climate goals of limiting global temperature increases to 1.5C.