- Sweden’s income pension will increase by 1 per cent in January 2024, Sweden’s Pensions Agency has confirmed.

This is a lower increase compared to 2023, when the income and supplementary pension increased by 3 per cent. Commenting, Swedish Pensions Agency head of analysis, Ole Settergren, said: “The development of the income pension must be in step with income development in society. When the income pension is calculated, it is reinforced at the beginning of the payment with an advance of 1.6 per cent. The advance is then deducted from the income development at each annual recalculation of the income pension. Since incomes increased by 2.6 per cent on average in 2023, the increase in the income pension will be 1 per cent.”

- Finnish earnings-related pension provider, Varma, has received four stars in the 2023 GRESB assessment of property responsibility.

Varma’s participation this year in the property responsibility assessment is the fifth time it has been assessed. Varma received 87 out of 100 maximum points, which is an improvement on last year. Varma excelled in its own GRESB comparison group by achieving the best result in its comparison group. The comparison group consisted of seven Finnish real estate investors of the same type. In the comparison group of European unlisted low-risk real estate investments, Varma was in 38th place, when 311 investors participated in the comparison. Varma received full marks in the evaluation in the area of responsibility management.

- A group of over 20 NGOs coordinated by ShareAction through the European Responsible Investment Network (ERIN), has published a manifesto for the EU elections calling on policymakers to make sustainable finance a top priority of the 2024-2029 EU agenda.

The new Commission appointed for 2024 until 2029 will have the last opportunity to take action and bring forward legislation to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy and meet crucial 2030 targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

Maria van der Heide, head of EU policy at ShareAction, said: “Banks, insurance companies, and investors continue to finance activities that deepen the climate crisis, violate human rights, and harm nature. Although EU institutions and governments have introduced some sustainable finance regulation in recent years, it falls short of what is needed to support businesses to transition to a sustainable economy and protect people and the planet. We need to see bold action from EU policymakers to ensure that the financial sector powers solutions, not problems.”

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