Announces End to Proposals at Oil and Gas Companies
[Toronto, September 12, 2024] – A prominent shareholder advocacy organization is calling on major Canadian pension funds, banks, and insurance companies to follow through on their commitments to transform polluters in their portfolios in a full page ad in the Globe and Mail today. Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC) is announcing that it will no longer file shareholder proposals at oil and gas companies to encourage Bay Street to do so instead.
“We’ve concluded that our oil and gas proposals are providing an excuse for major investors to sit on the sidelines,” said Matt Price, Executive Director with I4PC who is speaking to this issue today at the Responsible Investor conference in Toronto. “The result is that Canada’s oil and gas companies are off track for net zero, and by extension so are the investors who hold them.”
I4PC has filed several proposals with companies like Enbridge, Suncor, and Cenovus over the past few years, securing solid votes of support but no real change in company net zero progress. The companies continue to expand fossil fuel production and delivery rather than diversifying. Therefore, the group is calling on major investors to follow through on their commitments to decarbonize their portfolios via engagement by adopting an escalation strategy that includes:
- Publicly calling out investees that are increasing emissions and failing to invest in the energy transition.
- Filing their own shareholder proposals with the weight of institutional investment behind them.
- Should companies continue to stall, holding Directors accountable and pushing for changes to the Board.
- Exiting positions in companies that are not showing tangible progress toward the energy transition.
“The polite backroom chats that major investors are having with oil and gas companies aren’t working,” said Price. “Canadians entrust these investors to provide for their security, which includes long-term sustainability – it’s time to get serious about results. We’ll continue to monitor their progress.”
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Read the open letter here.
For more information or to schedule an interview please contact:
Rebecca McNeil
Communications Director
778-628-8305
rebecca@investorsforparis.com
About Investors for Paris Compliance
I4PC is a leading climate advocacy group working to hold publicly-traded companies accountable to their net zero commitments.
