Polish citizens' pension investment preferences in the context of their awareness of climate change

Abstract

Climate change and the level of future pension benefits are challenges for the next generations. One of the answers to both problems is to push capital savings towards sustainable ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) investments. At the same time, most studies show that the lack of so-called “green products” in the investment market is caused by a lack of demand. It will probably change, both due to the growing awareness of climate change, and thus the pressure of retail investors and mainly due to regulations introduced by public institutions, especially by the European Union. The article aims to verify whether Polish individual investors and people with additional capital pension insurance can create significant pressure on fund managers, to increase the share of the green investments in their investment portfolio. In this context, I assume that shareholders (who care about financial profit) are also stakeholders (so they do not want to feel the negative effects of corporate actions on the climate and will take it into account when investing). Using statistical analysis of data collected as part of a nationwide survey on a representative sample of Poles (N = 2416), I answer the following questions: are people who believe that the anthropogenic climate crisis is an important problem more willing to invest in ESG, and if such investments would combine with less profit, would they have decided to so anyway?