The Westminster Pension Fund's Pension Board has identified climate change as a significant risk, with members urging for its more explicit inclusion in the fund's risk register. During a meeting on Thursday, July 9, 2026, the board discussed the fund's investment strategy, where climate change was a key concern.
Terry Neville OBE, a scheme member representative, highlighted the enormous effect on economy as we go forward
that climate change is expected to have, noting that it'll get worse.
He specifically questioned the fund's risk register, stating, the risk register is the thing that keeps us all on our toes if we're doing our jobs properly.
The board discussed transition risk
and physical asset risk
as potential impacts on the fund's investments.
Patrick Rowe, Tri-Borough Director of Treasury and Pensions, confirmed that the fund has invested in renewable energy infrastructure, including a large solar PV array down the coast in the southeast of England
as part of the Quinbrook Infrastructure Fund. However, he acknowledged that the explicit consideration of climate change risk within the fund's formal risk register is still developing.
The process for addressing these risks involves talking to our fund managers where we've got real assets.
The fund managers are being questioned on their exposure to physical climate risks, with a focus on the resilience of assets like the solar PV array to impacts such as rising sea levels and storm surges. Fund managers are expected to have factored these risks into their investments and to be strengthening protective measures.
While mooted requirements
exist for the private sector to assess and report on their total exposure to climate risk, these are not yet come through as a requirement for us
(pension funds). The timeline for these expectations to become mandatory is not specified. The board has expressed a desire to see climate change more explicitly reflected in the risk register,
implying a need for clear identification and assessment of climate-related risks, including transition and physical asset risks.
The review of the extent to which the fund's actuary has modelled climate-related risks is ongoing. Mr. Rowe stated, That is, you know, it's somewhat topical. We're reviewing the extent to which our actuary has done that and whether, you know, they should have perhaps done more. That's an ongoing thing at the moment.
Preliminary findings from this review are not yet available.
The top five risks currently listed on the fund's risk register include significant volatility and negative sentiment in global investment markets due to geopolitical and economic uncertainty, investment managers failing to achieve targets, potential deterioration in funding levels, regulatory and compliance risks, and price inflation exceeding expectations. Climate change is discussed as a significant risk,
with Mr. Neville emphasizing, it is here and now, we're experiencing it as we said, yeah, it'll get worse.
This suggests it is perceived as a significant and immediate concern, though its exact ranking relative to the other top five risks is not explicitly stated in the meeting minutes Draft Pension Board Minutes.
Further details regarding the meeting agenda can be found here, and the public reports pack is available here.
