Statement from Shift Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health on PSP Investments’ annual report and responsible investment report
PSP Investments has made early progress in putting in place the internal tools and processes required to assess and manage the financial risks of climate change. However, it is unclear how PSP is using this climate-related information to protect the pensions of more than 900,000 federal public servants and align their retirement savings with a safe climate future.
Statement from Adam Scott, Director of Shift, on the significance for Canadian finance institutions of the IEA’s new Net-Zero by 2050 outlook
The release of the International Energy Agency’s new 1.5℃ energy scenario is game changing for the responses of Canadian finance institutions to the climate crisis. The world’s most influential energy modelling analysis provides essential clarity on what is required to achieve the energy transition in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Statement from Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health on climate-related financial risk in the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s 2020 annual report
All things considered, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) weathered the pandemic storms of the past year effectively. However, the economic shocks from COVID-19 have revealed the growing long-term risks of the fund’s exposure to fossil fuel investments, and the growing financial benefits of shifting capital into climate solutions.
Statement from Adam Scott, Director of Shift Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health, on BMO’s Unambitious “Climate Ambition” announcement
BMO’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 is another welcome acknowledgement that finance institutions have an obligation to address the climate crisis through their lending and investment decisions. Yet Canada’s banks have so far failed to acknowledge the requirement to immediately and dramatically shift financing away from fossil fuels and into climate solutions.
New Report: Canadian Financial Institutions Among the "Dirty Thirty" Financiers of the Global Coal Industry
Canadian financial institutions are some of the largest financiers of the global coal industry, according to the 2020 Global Coal Exit List, new financial data released today by German non-profit Urgewald.
Statement from Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan's incomplete 2050 net-zero emissions commitment
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.
Statement from Shift on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan's acquisition of a 69.4 per cent stake in an Italian fossil gas pipeline network
On Christmas Eve, working and retired teachers across Ontario were treated to yet another fossil gas pipeline network on behalf of their pension fund.