The Danish Doctors Pension Fund (Lægernes Pension) has adopted a new climate policy that has seen it vote against 870 board candidates at this year’s annual general meeting (AGM) season.

Since the beginning of 2024, the pension fund has only voted for board candidates in companies that fulfil a number of specific climate requirements, and that support the Paris Agreement's goal of a maximum global warming of 1.5 degrees.

The pension fund said it consistently votes against companies' board members if their climate ambitions are not high enough.

The policy covers 165 of the world's largest carbon emitters and 26 banks and is a direct consequence of a resolution passed by a large majority of delegates at the pension fund’s general assembly in 2023.

In the first eight months of 2024, Lægernes Pension voted against 870 board candidates.

Commenting, Lægernes Pension head of sustainability, Peter Rasmussen, said the pension fund is among the first investors with such a targeted voting policy but he expects more investors to adopt this approach in the future.

"We are still a minority shareholder. So, in the short term, the effect is that we are sending an important signal to companies that they need to tighten their course," Rasmussen added.

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