Bob Welsh, chief executive of the $6 billion VicSuper fund, can — partly because he is one of the biggest local investors in Generation Investment Management, the London-based fund manager that Mr Gore chairs.

At a business breakfast on Monday, Mr Gore will launch Safe Climate Australia, a non-profit, non-partisan organisation working on a plan for Australia's move to a zero carbon economy.

VicSuper, which has more than 247,000 members, is hosting the launch and has previously backed other programs set up by Safe Climate chief executive Brendan Condon.

Mr Welsh has been a green super pioneer. His aim is to make VicSuper, opened to the public in 2000, sustainable.

VicSuper has made sustainable investment an integral part of its strategy, instead of an option available to members who choose it, as most super funds do.

It has about $1.4 billion in sustainable investment strategies, including $580 million in listed domestic and international share funds, $360 million in greener direct property funds, $92 million in forestry and $250 million in its Future Farming Landscapes program, which is buying land and water in northern Victoria. Another $122 million is committed to sustainable private equity.

In late 2007, VicSuper seeded the Cleantech Australia Fund, which invests in Australian start-ups such as wave energy converter Oceanlinx, with $30 million (alongside $20 million from the Commonwealth).

"That was really satisfying," Mr Welsh said. "Because the asset consultants said 'look, this is a first-time approach. We don't know whether the investment case makes sense'."

VicSuper does not provide its performance figures to independent ratings agencies such as Super Ratings but figures are available on its website.