Sweden’s Seventh AP Fund (AP7) has welcomed the inclusion of policy engagement as a component of new ISO net-zero standards proposed by the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS).

The SIS has proposed a global standard on how companies should contribute to achieving net-zero emissions, including a framework for corporate transition plans and requirements for climate-related claims.

AP7 said the standard was an important tool for strengthening the quality and credibility of corporate climate transitions, particularly welcoming the focus on policy engagement.

In its response to the consultation, the pension fund chose to focus on the section covering policy engagement and lobbying, as this was central to its ownership and stewardship work.

It proposed revisions seeking to ensure that organisations assess and disclose the policy issues they want to influence, alongside the policy conditions on which their transition plans depend.

AP7 also called for clearer requirements for annual reviews of whether both direct and indirect policy engagements were aligned with the targets of the Paris Agreement and the organisations own net-zero commitments.

"A company's climate ambitions must go hand in hand with its policy engagement,” said AP7 head of sustainability, Charlotta Dawidowski Sydstrand.

“If a company claims to support the Paris Agreement, it should also ensure that its lobbying activities do the same.”

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