About ShiftOTPP
ShiftOTPP monitors the fossil fuel and climate-related investments of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) and works to protect pensions and the climate. We bring together Ontario teachers and their pension fund to engage on the climate crisis. We help teachers understand where their retirement wealth is being invested and how to engage with their OTPP fund managers investing it. Now is the time for Ontario teachers to protect their retirement savings and ensure a climate-safe future for young people.
We want to see the OTPP make the following changes:
Immediately disclose:
a complete list of assets under management that are aligned with a zero-carbon economy by mid-century at the latest;
a complete list of assets that are allocated toward high-carbon investments like fossil fuel companies and infrastructure;
Commit to aligning OTPP's portfolio with Canada’s commitment and the Paris agreement goal to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Explain how any high-carbon investments are aligned with this goal;
Immediately place an exclusionary screen on new oil, gas, coal and pipeline investments;
Phase out all current oil, gas, coal and pipeline investments by 2025;
Decarbonize its portfolio by 2040;
Establish ambitious targets for increased investments in profitable climate solutions;
Pressure companies in its portfolio to: refrain from lobbying activities that undermine ambitious climate policy, set timelines for reducing emissions, and limit executive compensation to measurable climate goals;
Invest in companies that help build a zero-carbon economy in Ontario.
The OTPP has made strong progress in its approach to climate change, deploying a number of tools and processes to better understand climate-related risks. It has also increased its investments in climate solutions to more than $34 billion in recent years, issuing nearly $3 billion in green bonds, and investing in clean energy companies and infrastructure, including renewable energy, electricity transmission, green buildings and clean technology. The OTPP also invested in the Brookfield Global Transition Fund and TPG Rise Climate, both of which are focused on accelerating the transition to a net-zero economy. And the OTPP has committed to use its influence and capital to help high-carbon companies decarbonize, particularly in power generation, heavy industry, mining and transportation.
In January 2021, OTPP became the second major Canadian pension fund to announce a net-zero emissions by 2050 commitment. In September 2021, OTPP established interim net-zero targets and pledged to reduce the carbon intensity of its portfolio by 45 per cent by 2025 and 67 per cent by 2030, using 2019 as a baseline. By the end of 2022, OTPP decreased its portfolio’s emissions intensity by 32% and absolute emissions by 3%.
While its investments in climate solutions have increased in recent years, the OTPP continues to invest in climate breakdown. The OTPP has not disclosed how much of teachers’ pension money is invested in fossil fuel companies, but we estimate it has at least $10 billion invested in oil, gas and pipelines. The OTPP itself acknowledged in April 2023 that 3 per cent of its portfolio, or $7.4 billion, is invested in direct oil and gas assets. Click here to see ShiftOTPP’s analysis of the fossil fuel companies and infrastructure in OTPP’s portfolio.
The OTPP says that owning shares in these fossil fuel companies empowers teachers to encourage these companies to improve environmental performance and reduce carbon pollution. But the OTPP has not explained how its engagement efforts have actually led to meaningful climate action by these companies. The OTPP uses a number of tools to assess the risks of climate change to teachers’ retirement savings, but is not transparent about how these tools affect its investment strategy. The OTPP excludes investment in tobacco, guns and arms manufacturers, weapons companies and Russian assets. But the OTPP refuses to exclude investments in fossil fuels.
For more information about OTPP’s approach to climate change and investments in fossil fuel companies, download this OTPP toolkit.
Contact Us
ShiftOTPP.ca wants to hear feedback from Ontario teachers and encourages a constructive dialogue on climate change between teachers and their pension fund managers. Send us your comments and questions to info@shiftaction.ca.