OTPP executives ignore and dismiss members’ climate questions at AGM
Retired elementary school teacher and OTPP member Betty de Groote questioning OTPP’s approach to the climate crisis and investments in fossil fuels at its 2025 AGM.
This is a guest post by retired elementary school teacher and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) member Betty de Groote.
After driving nearly two hours to attend the OTPP AGM on April 10th, I managed to get to the mic to ask one question about my pension managers’ approach to the climate crisis and investments in fossil fuels. I was deeply disappointed when an OTPP executive dismissed my question, falsely claiming that it had already been answered.
Earlier this month, I joined teachers from across Ontario to attend OTPP’s AGM. For those who were unable to attend, you can find an official recording, slide deck and transcript from the meeting here.
I’m writing to share my story about attending the AGM in person and having an OTPP executive dismiss my question about the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels. You can see a video of me asking my question at the AGM here (at 1:11:20).
OTPP increased its exposure to fossil fuels in the last two years
The AGM began with a presentation from OTPP CEO Jo Taylor that included an update on OTPP’s climate strategy. The CEO highlighted OTPP’s achievement of its 2025 emissions reduction target a year ahead of schedule, its $30 billion in green investments, and its ongoing focus on helping portfolio companies to implement credible decarbonization plans. Taylor also acknowledged our concerns about OTPP’s investments in oil and gas.
The CEO then disclosed that OTPP’s “holdings in energy and energy-related infrastructure… account for approximately 4% of the fund assets, but they also provide some diversification and inflation cover for the plan” (at 27:13). Strangely, OTPP’s official transcript of the AGM (p.6) differs from what Taylor actually said, reading that “(oil and gas) holdings account for approximately 3-4% of fund assets.” In the Q&A session following Taylor’s presentation, OTPP Board Chair Steve McGirr said that OTPP’s “exposure to fossil fuels is 4% or less.” For a portfolio the size of OTPP’s, the difference between 3% and 4% represents $2.6 billion— which is nothing to sneeze at for pensioners like me. I find it bizarre that OTPP was unable to provide a simple, consistent accounting of the value of its fossil fuel assets.
Using the 4% figure disclosed by both Taylor and McGirr, this means that OTPP has approximately $10.6 billion of our retirement fund invested in fossil fuels. This indicates that OTPP has increased its exposure to fossil fuels – both in absolute dollars and as a percentage of our pension portfolio – over the last two years, when it last disclosed this figure at the 2023 AGM.
That’s right – after another two years of soaring temperatures and devastating climate impacts, OTPP is still increasing its investments in oil, gas and pipelines. The OTPP CEO’s assertion that these investments provide “some inflation cover to the plan” is also questionable. A recent study found that fossil fuel price hikes were the primary driver of Canada’s surge in inflation since the COVID-19 pandemic. Fossil fuels are making our lives less affordable.
How bad does the climate crisis need to get before OTPP acknowledges the risks of fossil fuels to our pension savings, to our retirement security, and to our collective future?
Did OTPP answer your questions about climate change and fossil fuel investments?
For the second year in a row, OTPP did not provide an official recording or transcript of the Q&A portion of its AGM. Luckily, teachers who attended the AGM in-person or watched it online provided this critical transparency and shared their own recordings of the Q&A. You can watch the Q&A here (starting at 24:00).
Many teachers reported that they submitted questions about climate change and fossil fuel investments to OTPP, but left the meeting feeling that OTPP ignored, dismissed or didn’t meaningfully answer any of their questions. This was unfortunately the experience I had.
Of the ten questions that teachers reported having submitted to OTPP’s AGM process, either online or in-person, OTPP has so far completely ignored nine of them. When I followed up by email with my question to OTPP, I received an anonymous automatic response that read: “Thank you for your inquiry. We’ll provide you with the information you’ve requested within the next few days.” Like many teachers whose questions were ignored, I did not receive the information I requested from OTPP.
We deserve meaningful answers from the people managing our pension savings
This is a disappointing lack of transparency for a pension fund that claims to be a climate leader. OTPP is increasing its exposure to fossil fuels and ignoring its own members’ questions about climate risks and fossil fuel investments.
At the AGM, OTPP CEO Jo Taylor claimed that “we try really hard to listen to our members and we try really hard to sort of give our honest, firm reflection on what we think is the right way forward.”
A good start would be to stop ignoring critical questions from members like me. Join me in re-submitting your climate questions to inquiry@otpp.com today. Below is a template that you can use to send your email and re-submit your questions. Please personalize the email with your question, your name and your own thoughts and experiences.