TOKYO -- Climate change is having an effect on companies' market capitalization as investors increasingly focus on decarbonization. On Tuesday, 137 global investors that hold $20 trillion in assets called on over 1,800 companies to set science-based targets for cutting emissions. Those companies are the source of 25% of the world's carbon emissions, according to CDP, a non-profit group that coordinated the move.
The investors, including Axa of France and Japan's Nikko Asset Management, acted because if the companies do not, then those putting money in them will also pay a price. "Climate change presents material risks to investments, and companies that are failing to set targets grounded in science risk losing out -- and causing greater damage to the world economy," Emily Kreps, global director of Capital Markets at CDP, wrote in a statement.
