EVPE underlines commitment to responsible investment

EV Private Equity is pleased to announce it has signed the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

The PRI aims to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into decision-making to create more responsible investment and sustainable markets. It works with an international network of signatories to support and embed these aims within their organisations to enhance returns and better manage risk.

Helge Tveit, Managing Partner at EVPE said: “Discussion around environmental and social issues now dominates the world we live in, which has rightly impacted the decision-making approach that investors are taking.

In the international energy sector, great scrutiny is placed upon investments and sector-wide, we need to ensure that investment is handled responsibly and evolves with the changing global marketplace.”

Karem Kobayashi, Compliance Manager at EVPE added: “In today’s world making a return to investors goes hand-in-hand with the adoption of sustainable practices. EVPE’s portfolio companies have a lot to contribute in the areas of clean, affordable energy through its unique technologies, as well as in promoting a safe, equal and ethical work environment.  

Through our commitment to the PRI and our own ESG programme we’ll aim to improve the standards and practices of our portfolio companies. The approach will allow us to proactively identify issues and address risk, at the same time improving LP transparency.”

EV has been developing its ESG programme since last year, launching the initiative during this second quarter. Part of this includes an ESG policy and collection of key portfolio companies’ policies and ESG-related KPIs on a periodical basis. Due diligence specifically around ESG issues is also now mandatory when considering new investments. The PRI was created in 2005 by then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who invited the world’s largest institutional investors to hep developed the principles. Launched in April 2006 at the New York Stock Exchange, the PRI has grown consistently and continues to partner with the United National Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the United National Global Compact.

Read more from Karem on our responsible investment strategy here.