Canada Pension Investments has withdrawn a net zero objective for 2050 for carbon emissions, according to an annual report published Wednesday, after several Canadian financial institutions that have retreated on climatic commitments.
CPP Investments said that there have been recent legal developments in Canada that have introduced new considerations about how zero net commitments are interpreted.
Recent changes in the Canada Competition Law require companies to corroborate the environmental statements they do.
John Graham, executive director of CPP Investments, said the fund continues to believe in the need to incorporate sustainability in how it manages its portfolio.
“We believe it is really important to incorporate the weather and incorporate sustainability in the portfolio when we take a long -term perspective and as a long sentence investor,” he said.
“Recent legal developments in Canada have introduced a kind of new considerations about how zero net commitments are interpreted, so that has made us change a little how we talk about that, but nothing has changed in what we are really doing.”
Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a defense group, criticized the measure in a statement published on Wednesday, asking how the pension fund will maintain the benefits for future retirees “in a world of climate breakdown.”
“By supporting a promise to invest in line with its net-zero commitment for 2050, [CPP Investment’s] Management has failed to undertake its most fundamental purpose: managing in a responsible manner the long -term collective savings of workers and retired Canadians, “reads the statement.
Several important Canadian banks, including BMO, TD Bank and CIBC, have also retreated on climatic commitments this year, announcing that they would leave a zero net bank alliance backed by the United Nations.
Graham’s comments occurred when the fund reported a net yield of 9.3 percent for its last fiscal year, not reaching the return of their 10.9 percent reference portfolios.
