Companies’ net zero alignment in question Shareholders at Cenovus and Enbridge will vote on proposals regarding their lobbying practices filed by Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC). Both companies have made a net zero commitment, but evidence filed in the proposals shows the companies advocating against climate policy and in favour of fossil fuel expansion which…

Capex and scope 3 in the spotlight Shareholders at Suncor and Enbridge will vote on proposals filed by Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC) regarding their net zero plans. Both resolutions focus on key metrics that indicate whether the companies are on track. The Suncor resolution asks the company for greater disclosure regarding its commitment to…

Today RBC released its 2022 Climate Report. There is little in the report that RBC has not already disclosed, and nothing that would improve the grades we assigned to RBC in our report card. There are however some concerning updates to the bank’s financed emissions reporting. Overall, RBC continues to uphold intensity-based targets that are…

TD gives few details about carbon shift while continuing to finance billions in fossil fuels  (March 1, 2023) Shareholders will be asked to vote on a resolution at TD bank regarding its net zero transition plan in the lead up to its AGM on April 20. The resolution was filed by Investors for Paris Compliance…

InfluenceMap, a research partner to Climate Action 100+, just released a major report on climate lobbying by the Canadian oil and gas industry. It concludes that while most Canadian oil and gas companies state public support for climate action, they nevertheless continue to lobby against government actions to limit global warming. The report calls this…

Last week at the Investor Summit on Responsible Investing in Vancouver, Barb Zvan, the President and CEO of the University Pension Plan, said she hopes news about Canada’s sustainable finance taxonomy will be out by the end of the month. A taxonomy has the potential to clarify what activities qualify as green or transition investments,…

Plus, 4 things that effective climate engagement needs to include Is engagement the only way to ensure real-world emissions reductions? Or, is divestment the key to achieving net zero? – the perennial net zero asset management question that never fails to elicit a hot debate.  Like so much in life, this issue is not binary.…

Nobody should doubt just how much influence Canada’s big banks have over national politics. The Globe and Mail has reported on the direct access that bank CEO’s have with the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance with whom they share their views on everything from covid restrictions to the use of the Emergencies Act. In…

2022 was Investors for Paris Compliance’s first full calendar year, and a full one it was. In general, we’re helping to fill a large and growing gap in the investor ecosystem as more Canadian companies make net zero pledges, yet with few people holding those companies accountable for following through. Here are some highlights and…

RBC finally came out with its initial 2030 targets today. There will be a lot of justified commentary on the weakness of its intensity-based targets, but RBC also released something else - a new framework for sustainable finance. We’ll take some minor credit for this release, although not for its content. You may remember that…

Insurance companies are on the front lines of the climate crisis. This is most evident with property insurers who end up picking up the tab following extreme weather events - hurricanes, fires, floods, etc - and is behind the reason that these companies are lobbying for better adaptation policies in Canada. But it’s also true…

Sun Life and Manulife found to be in early days of implementing net zero plans, with major gaps remaining (September 21, 2022; Toronto, Canada) Today the shareholder advocacy group Investors for Paris Compliance released the report Insuring the Climate Crisis which documents the financed emissions of insurance giants Sun Life and Manulife and their efforts…