Cushon Net Zero Now pension

The average UK pension pays for 23 tonnes of carbon emissions through the companies it invests in, per year. Our Net Zero Now pension, the world’s first ethical pension scheme, reduces overall carbon emissions by firstly diverting investments into companies that generate less carbon, without compromising our members’ investment returns.

Whatever carbon emissions we can’t eliminate through the fund we offset by contributing to environmental projects that restore balance in the climate and remove carbon from the atmosphere.

This is called offsetting and is paid for by Cushon, so it doesn’t cost our pension members anything. We also fully acknowledge that offsetting is not a long-term solution, but we feel it’s important to create net zero solutions now, not just goals for decades in the future.

Cushon partners with Vertree, a sustainable solutions company that supports nature-based projects, to meet our goals of high standard carbon offsetting projects

The projects that Cushon contributes to include:

Katingan Mentaya Project

This project protects vital peatland habitats in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, for five Critically Endangered, eight Endangered and 31 Vulnerable species. The protected area is home to between 5 and 10% of the global populations of the Bornean Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey and Southern Bornean Gibbon. The project works in partnership with the local communities to ensure natural forest restoration and protection, activities aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Southern Cardamom Project

The Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project protects 497,000 hectares of tropical rainforest in South-West Cambodia which is globally significant for wildlife conservation, ecosystem servicing, and community livelihoods. The project uses global best practices of forest protection and community development to safeguard the forest and prevent more than 3,000,000 tons of carbon emissions annually.

Arc Redd

The Arc Redd+ project preserves 53,528 hectares in a critical region of the eastern amazon biome. A region where there is high deforestation risk. Providing full time employment, training and access for the families that live in and around the project area, to be self-empowered in a region where there are few job opportunities.

Recognising that sustainable investing is not just about climate change, our pension in-app voting feature lets members have their say on how companies their pension invests in deal with other issues such as gender equality and animal welfare.

Article by

NatWest Cushon