It is often said in the world of pension fund investors that the small follow the large. In other words, smaller and mid-sized pensions are often risk-averse and will not venture into new markets until the larger pensions do so.

If there is truth to the maxim then the California State Teachers’ Retirement System might be playing pied-piper to its diminutive peers with regard to green investing and environmental risk.

CalSTRS published its seventh annual Green Initiative Task Force annual report in December for the year ending June 30, 2013. The report details the retirements system’s activities surrounding “environmental risk management and opportunity capture,” notes an introduction letter by CIO Chris Ailman.

“According to Munich Re, in 2012, 905 natural catastrophes worldwide resulted in 9,600 fatalities and overall losses of $170 billion. Institutional investors cannot ignore the importance of working to minimize the frequenc