Aberdeen Standard Investments, Allianz, DWS and Legal & General are among a group of fund managers calling for the EU to set a new target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, as investors up the pressure at the United Nations’ 25th annual climate change conference in Spain.

The investor group, which manages assets of €6tn, has written to all EU heads of state and government, pressing them to pass a net-zero target into European law “as a matter of urgency”. Sacha Sadan, head of corporate governance at Legal & General Investment Management, said: “Decisive action on the climate emergency is in the interests of both investors and society.”