Part I: Pensions today & their history

The report explains how modern pension systems evolved to provide income security in old age, increasingly relying on funded schemes invested in financial markets. Pensions have become major economic actors, with global pension assets estimated at around USD 58.5 trillion in 2025, roughly one third of all owned assets worldwide. The largest markets account for about 91% of these assets. Historically, pensions shifted from collective, state-backed defined benefit models towards defined contribution schemes, transferring risk from institutions to individuals. This transition intensified financialisation and dependence on continuous economic growth.

Part II: The problems: Why change is both imminent and necessary

The report argues that pensions are structurally dependent on perpetual economic growth, despite operating within planetary limits. Investment models commonly assume continued growth even under 4–7°C warming scenarios, which conflicts with scientific consensus. Evidence cited includes actuarial analysis suggesting that at 3°C warming, global GDP losses could exceed 50%, with severe social consequences. Risks such as stranded assets, uninsurable property, climate-driven defaults and systemic financial instability are systematically underestimated. Returns are therefore artificially high, masking long-term risks. At the same time, current pension systems already fail many retirees, with care needs unmet and significant inequalities driven by gender and income gaps. Pensions have been given an unrealistic mandate to solve retirement wellbeing solely through financial accumulation.

Part III: The solution: Providing wellbeing in old age

The report proposes reframing pensions around wellbeing rather than maximising financial capital. It introduces a multicapital approach, recognising financial, manufactured, social, human and natural capital as interdependent. In this framework, retirement security depends not only on money, but also on health, housing, community, and a stable environment. The report outlines how pensions could evolve through a degrowth transition towards a post-growth economy, where economic activity is maintained within planetary boundaries. In such a system, public pay-as-you-go pensions and universal basic services play a stronger role, while funded pensions integrate multicapital objectives. Suggested actions include investing more directly in housing, healthcare, community infrastructure, regeneration of natural systems, and resilience-building activities, even where financial returns are lower.

Part IV: How to get there: Barriers and opportunities for pension fund action

The report identifies legal, institutional and cultural barriers. A key legal barrier is the narrow interpretation of fiduciary duty as maximising financial returns. The report suggests redefining fiduciary duty to include long-term social and environmental wellbeing. Institutional barriers include a perceived lack of investable projects and incentive structures focused on short-term returns. Proposed responses include adjusting incentives, valuing multicapital returns, and expanding investment into co-operatives, public and ethical banks, community finance, and regenerative projects. The report also highlights opportunities to redirect capital towards the Global South, where growth needs remain and risks are often overestimated. Increased beneficiary involvement and new skills in systems thinking, climate science and stakeholder engagement are identified as important enablers.

Part V: Conclusion

The report concludes that growth-dependent pension systems are unlikely to remain viable as ecological and social constraints intensify. It emphasises that redefining prosperity as wellbeing within planetary boundaries is essential for future retirement security. Pension funds are encouraged to acknowledge systemic risks, integrate scientific evidence into risk assessment, and support the development of post-growth economic structures. Acting to secure ecological stability and social resilience is presented as a necessary condition for protecting long-term pension outcomes.