The seven Founding Partners of the Investor Agenda have introduced an updated Investor Climate Action Plans (ICAPs) Guidance, which integrates recent industry initiatives and provides enhanced details on investment strategies and new resources for investors. This updated Guidance serves as a companion to the ICAPs Expectations Ladder, a tool to aid investors in developing credible, ambition-aligned transition plans.
The Investor Agenda is a unified and comprehensive leadership framework addressing the climate crisis, aimed at accelerating investor actions toward a net-zero emissions economy. Its seven founding partners are prominent groups working with investors worldwide: the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, CDP, Ceres, Investor Group on Climate Change, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, Principles for Responsible Investment, and the UNEP Finance Initiative.
The 2024 ICAPs Guidance highlights best practices for creating and publishing climate action plans, helping investors assess their position on the ICAPs Expectations Ladder and identifying actions to strengthen their climate strategies. It also facilitates communication with colleagues and helps investors navigate an increasing number of climate-related initiatives and reporting expectations.
Key updates in the ICAPs Guidance include new resources aligned with the transfer of TCFD oversight to the IFRS Foundation’s ISSB, amendments to ICAPs tiers to ensure consistency with the Expectations Ladder, expanded details on various investment strategies, and additional resources reflecting the latest scientific and policy guidance.
The ICAPs Expectations Ladder was updated in 2023 to include new sub-focus criteria across different tiers and focus areas in line with the latest science and guidance. In addition, deforestation actions were laid out clearly throughout the tiers to ensure that ICAPs are as comprehensive as possible in their approach.
The ICAPs Expectations Ladder was previously updated in 2023, introducing new criteria across tiers and explicitly addressing deforestation to make ICAPs more comprehensive.
“ICAPs are becoming the standard roadmap for investors to lay out the actions they will take to meet their climate goals. Together, the updated ICAPs Guidance on using the Expectation Ladder offers investors clear steps for developing robust, science-aligned transition plans. This guidance reinforces the importance of transparency and consistency across the industry, ensuring investors are well-positioned to navigate the evolving landscape of climate-related risks and opportunities,” said Rev. Kirsten Snow Spalding, Vice President of the Ceres Investor Network at Ceres.
