Caisse to sell off remaining oil assets by next year - CBC.ca

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec says it will divest all of its oil investments by next year as part of the pension plan's plan to help combat climate change by cutting its carbon footprint in half by 2030.

The province's public pension fund unveiled its climate change strategy on Tuesday.

A core plank of the policy is to divest all assets that produce crude oil products by the end of 2022. 

"The climate situation affects everyone, and we can no longer address it with the same methods used a few years ago," CEO Charles Emond said. "We have to make important decisions on issues such as oil production and decarbonizing sectors that are essential to our economies."

LISTEN | Can your pension investments be greener? 

What On Earth35:52Why climate change may put your investments at risk

From net-zero pledges to sustainable portfolios, it appears the finance industry is acting on climate change. But Canadian pensions and other funds are still heavily invested in fossil fuels. We look at how our money can be part of the solution. 35:52

The pension plan has been selling off assets in the oil sector, but the declaration means it will move ahead with selling off what it has left.

According to regulatory filings, as of the end of June 2021, the fund owned sizeable stakes in a number of oil companies including:

• $661 million in French oil giant Total
• $397 million worth of oilsands company Canadian Natural Resources
• $359 million in Calgary-based Suncor
• $110 million in Russia's Lukoil
• $65 million in BP
• $61 million in Shell.

The company owns smaller stakes in other public oil companies, along with potentially several more private investments, and large stakes in oil-related companies such as pipelines and natural gas.

Overall, the Caisse has about $390 billion worth of assets, and about one per cent of them — just under $4 billion — are tied up in oil investments.

Public pension funds such as the Caisse have come under increasing pressure in recent years to use their sizeable financial might to try to influence climate policy by investing in companies committed to sustainability.

CBC News reported on one activist group's campaign to raise awareness about the fossil fuel investments of major Canadian pension plans earlier this summer.

Canadian credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar said pension funds are poised "to play a key role in fostering the advance of [sustainability] matters for the broader interests of society; however, their role will be guided by their fiduciary duty to their members and clients."

Not just oil divestment

The fund also says it will move its oil money to other investments, with a view to buying up $54 billion in "green assets" by 2025.

And it has set aside a $10 billion "transition envelope" to invest in carbon-intensive companies outside the energy sector that are trying to go more sustainable. Those industries include makers of raw materials such as metal and plastics, transportation companies upgrading their fleets to use green vehicles and alternative fuels, and agriculture companies such as fertilizer manufacturers.

"With this new strategy, we are demonstrating our leadership as an investor and entering the next stage of climate investing. We believe this is in the interests of our depositors, our portfolio companies and the communities we invest in," Emond said.

Overall, the pension fund says it plans to reduce its total carbon footprint by 60 per cent by 2030.

The pension fund first announced climate targets in 2017, and Tuesday's report shows that it is ahead of that schedule, and advancing its targets even further. The green investment target is three times what the fund owned in 2017, for example.

"In practical terms, we want to increase the supply of renewable energy as well as sustainable mobility and real estate, to contribute directly to the decarbonization of our economy," Emond said.

Adblock test (Why?)

Caisse to sell off remaining oil assets by next year - CBC.ca
Read More