The Paris Agreement and Just Transition

The Paris Agreement is a landmark international accord that was adopted by nearly every nation in the world in 2015 to address climate change and its negative impacts.

This agreement, reached in 2015 by all 197 parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, has three equally important objectives:

1. Keep global average temperature rise this century well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C
2. Adapt to climate change and reduce countries’ vulnerabilities to climate impacts
3. Align finance flows with countries’ pathways to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and resilient development.

Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science. Countries have expressed their commitments for climate action through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in which they communicate actions to reduce national emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement and build resilience to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Operating in Africa where the effects of climate change are likely to be exacerbated and countries still emerging in term of economic development, DPI acknowledges that climate change is a defining issue that will impact all of us and must be at the forefront of business decisions.

For these reasons, DPI supports the goals and objectives of the Paris Agreement and is committed to its funds being responsible climate conscious investors and supporting all their investments in their transition to a low carbon economy.

In performing our fiduciary duty, we support the Just Transition to a low carbon economy by integrating climate change analysis into our investment process. Creating quality jobs and developing essential skills is at the forefront of the process, as is supporting the funds’ investments in developing their activities while increasing their resilience and reducing their carbon intensity. We will continue to work with all the funds’ investments to:

• Measure and report on their carbon emissions
• Reduce their carbon intensity through the use of available low-carbon solutions
• Integrate climate change into their strategies and risk analysis
• Develop adaptation, resilience and awareness on climate risks
• Prepare them to a Net-Zero economy and engage with them on the Paris Agreement transition plans.