The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea is facing a judicial review challenge that contends the council failed to meet minimum public law standards when assessing and explaining climate-related financial risk in its pension fund.
ClientEarth's claim – which has also been filed against the pension fund's actuary, Hymans Robertson LLP – alleges that the approach “falls well short” of standards set out by the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
Climate change is widely regarded as one of the main sources of risk for pension funds, and fund valuation reports all include sections analysing the impacts of potential climate scenarios.
The Royal Borough’s 2025 triennial valuation has a page dedicated to climate change risk. The page compares three scenarios ranging from a “positive reaction” to climate change, in which society develops effective green solutions, to a more pessimistic “negative reaction”.
However, the environmental law charity claims the council’s climate risk assessment appears to fall “well short” of the standards set by relevant LGPS materials, including advice issued under the LGPS statutory framework and Hymans’ own published approach to climate-risk analysis.
The Royal Borough has reduced employer contribution rates to 0% for its own employees. ClientEarth says that basing contribution decisions on a valuation that allegedly does not take proper account of material climate risk puts the long-term funding of the scheme at risk.
Alex Bennett, lawyer...
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