The Canada Pension Plan’s Failure to Respect the 1.5-Degree Celsius Limit
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) manages one of the country’s largest pools of investment capital at over $400 billion. How pension funds choose to invest has significant bearing on how we collectively address the climate emergency and the needed energy transition away from fossil fuels. This report asks if the CPPIB is investing with the 1.5-degree Celsius limit on global average temperature rise as outlined in the Paris Agreement and finds it is not.
The authors of this report say this is a moral and ecological failure and also a financial risk. As energy generation shifts away from fossil fuels, investors who do not respond may find themselves left with “stranded assets”—investments that are no longer profitable—and Canada Pension Plan recipients would be collectively affected. Worse still, is that their pension investments would continue to contribute to climate change rather than supporting measures committed to finding solutions.
This is part of the Corporate Mapping Project, which is jointly led by the University of Victoria, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC & Saskatchewan offices) and the Parkland Institute. This research was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
