The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is facing criticism for backing out of a commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Following the release of its fiscal 2025 annual results last week, the investment organization was called out by Shift Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health, which said net-zero commitments aren’t optional. The CPPIB first introduced its 2025 goal in February 2022.
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The climate watchdog took issue with a change in the CPPIB’s “Approach to Sustainability” webpage regarding a reference to recent legal developments that introduced new considerations around how net-zero commitments are interpreted.
“[The] CPPIB’s decision to follow only a passive approach to climate is at odds with its role as an active investor,” said Shift in a press release.
The webpage in questions mentions that achieving net zero by 2050 remains a widely adopted goal and critical ambition for many countries, companies and international organizations, which also offers risk and opportunities to long-term investors.
In an emailed statement to Benefits Canada Michel Leduc, global head of public affairs at the CPPIB, said it hasn’t changed its investment approach and noted the change is “more about coherence and consistency.
“What hasn’t changed are the actions we take to integrate sustainability into our investment strategy. We continue to expect investment due diligence processes to identify material sustainability factors, including those related to climate change, and integrate the findings into investment decisions and ongoing asset management.”
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Shift said the decision by the CPPIB falls in contrast with the current momentum of climate strategies across 2024 from peers like the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, the Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and the University Pension Plan.
Leduc said there’s increasing pressure to adopt interim targets that don’t reflect the complexity of global investment portfolios or differentiate the control that an operating company has over its assets and the “limited influence” available to investors over the strategy of their investees.
“Our responsibility to 22 million Canadians is a strong commitment to identify, evaluate, monitor and act on the factors that will drive the world’s path and aspiration to net zero around the middle of the century.”
As a country, Canada retains its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 as per the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.
In its latest annual report, the CPPIB saw an increase in its total GHG emissions from 13,873 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in fiscal 2024 to 14,281 tonnes of CO2e in fiscal 2025. As at March 2025, the total carbon emissions of its non-government holdings reached 22.7 tonnes of CO2e, while government-issued securities stood at 28.7 tonnes CO2e.
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