Important: this page and calculator are for general education only. They are not pension advice, investment advice, tax advice, a financial promotion or a recommendation to switch pension funds or providers. Speak to a regulated financial adviser before making pension decisions.
What does the pension climate calculator estimate?
The Pension Climate Snapshot gives a high-level estimate of the climate exposure associated with a pension pot or workplace scheme. It uses simple proxy emissions factors by asset class, then adjusts the estimate for the selected fund profile and disclosure quality.
The output is designed to help people ask better questions, not to make investment decisions. A fund with a lower estimated footprint may still have other risks, costs or suitability considerations. A fund with a higher footprint may have active stewardship or transition exposure that is not visible in a simple calculator.
What inputs does it use?
- Pension value - the current pension pot value being screened.
- Monthly contributions - employee and employer contributions, used for an annual contribution exposure view.
- Fund profile - default workplace, ESG-labelled, fossil-reduced, legacy/high-carbon or unknown.
- Asset mix - equities, bonds, property, alternatives and cash.
- Disclosure quality - whether the provider publishes useful climate data, holdings, TCFD reporting or fund-level emissions.
Useful outputs
How should this be used?
Use the calculator as a conversation starter. If a pension provider publishes real fund-level emissions, holdings or stewardship data, that should be preferred over a broad proxy. If they do not publish those data, the disclosure score helps show that the right next step is better information rather than a rushed financial decision.