Statement from Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan's incomplete 2050 net-zero emissions commitment
JANUARY 22, 2021
STATEMENT FROM SHIFT ACTION FOR PENSION WEALTH AND PLANET HEALTH ON THE ONTARIO TEACHERS’ PENSION PLAN’S INCOMPLETE 2050 NET-ZERO EMISSIONS COMMITMENT
For Immediate Release:
We are pleased to see the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) take a critical first step towards addressing the unprecedented risks the climate crisis creates for its beneficiaries and for our planet. We hope this announcement is a signal that the OTPP and other Canadian pension funds are finally ready to admit the scale of action the climate crisis requires of them.
However, a commitment to net-zero emissions has little credibility on its own without announcing the concrete steps the OTPP will take to achieve this goal. These details should have been released today. Without a plan for major changes to the way the pension fund makes investment decisions, a net-zero commitment runs the risk of becoming a cynical example of greenwashing.
In recent years, the OTPP has continued to make decisions that run counter to responsible climate risk management, including deals to purchase and expand high-carbon, long-lived infrastructure like gas pipelines and airports. This cannot continue.
Hundreds of Ontario teachers have written to the OTPP, calling for concrete action to protect their pensions and the climate. Earlier this month, a coalition of students and teachers released a video setting out clear demands to align the pension fund with a climate-safe future.
For this net-zero investment strategy to have credibility, the OTPP must also announce:
Exclusionary screens on new oil, gas and coal investments (as already exist for tobacco and weapons);
A phase out of all current oil, gas and coal investments by 2025;
A clear timeline for decarbonizing the portfolio by 2030;
New and ambitious targets for increased investments in profitable climate solutions;
A policy that owned companies must refrain from lobbying activities that undermine ambitious climate policy, set timelines for reducing emissions, and link executive compensation to measurable climate goals.
A growing number of Canadian and global companies, investors and financial institutions are announcing 2050 net-zero policies. Yet the OTPP continues to hold billions in teachers’ pension savings in oil, gas and coal investments. In the last six months alone, the OTPP joined a consortium to buy a US$10.1 billion stake in Abu Dhabi’s gas pipeline network, bought a 69.4% stake in Italy’s second largest gas pipeline operator, and watched its wholly-owned Bristol Airport take a regional government in the U.K to court after its citizens rejected the airport’s expansion plans. These are not the actions of an institutional investor that is serious about mitigating the climate crisis.
A climate-safe investment strategy requires a phase-out of fossil fuel holdings and significant investments in the transformation of our economy and energy systems. An incomplete 2050 net-zero emissions commitment that lacks concrete details falls far short of this imperative. We look forward to seeing a detailed plan.
Background Information
Summary of the OTPP’s approach to climate risk and investments in fossil fuels. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17AgrcPbHVhxOzBbwz2HkmfqUGiqC9z4I/view.
A message from students to their teachers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPOiHGJqCmM&t=11s
CarbonBrief. Briefing: The problems with net-zero emissions
https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-the-problem-with-net-zero-emissions-targets
Contact information for media requests:
Adam Scott, Director, Shift Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health
Patrick DeRochie, Manager, Shift Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health
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