Corporate Knights

Many Canadian pension fund managers understand climate-related risks and are taking steps toward energy transition. But not all of them. Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health released its Canadian Pension Climate Report Card last week and the results show stark disparities between high-scoring pension plans like the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), University Pension Plan Ontario, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) – and those that aren't backing down from oil and gas financing, despite the transition risks threatening fossil fuels: Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) and the Canada Pension Plan. Read Shawn McCarthy's breakdown of the findings and the political factors that are driving the polarization, with perspective from Adam Scott, Shift Action's executive director. https://lnkd.in/evPkPN3a

Don’t talk about the environment. Talk about choice, market competition and good economics. That’s how solar energy advocates in the United States are selling solar power to people who might have hesitations, including Republican lawmakers in Washington, DC. To avoid the fate of wind power and align their messaging with Trump’s agenda, the U.S. solar lobby has launched a new slogan: “American Energy DOMINANCE.” But a cloudy forecast still hangs over this industry as the president continues to pump for oil and gas expansion. https://lnkd.in/eTRPj2xu

It’s a pastoral scene straight out of Middlemarch, with a steampunk twist: flocks of woolly sheep wandering a green expanse, cropping grass and resting from the noonday sun in the shade of row upon row of shimmering black photovoltaic arrays extending to the horizon. The solar panels provide clean energy; the sheep provide cheap lawnmowing services that keep the panels from overheating. “There’s no longer any question that this works,” says Ivey Business School at Western University School professor Joshua Pearce, who is also the founder of the not-for-profit Agrivoltaics Canada. Linda Besner writes about the new era of #agrivoltaics, which is showing that sheep, bees and a wide array of crops harmonize perfectly with solar panels. #farming #solar #renewables https://lnkd.in/dRh9yMEE

Big Oil is influencing climate education in Canada by funding and supplying educational materials that frame the issue to serve their interests. Gaye Taylor writes about "Polluting Education," a new report by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and the parent-led advocacy group For Our Kids, which details the strategies used by fossil fuel companies to spread misinformation in Canadian schools. But Canadian youth are stepping up and demanding honesty and transparency about the oil sector’s role in driving the climate crisis. Climate Education Reform BC is a youth-led campaign calling for the creation of a community consultation committee on curriculum reform. Governments also have a critical role to play. “Given that public education in Canada falls under provincial and territorial jurisdiction, action by Ministries of Education is critical for limiting fossil fuel influence and advancing climate change education in K–12 schools,” write the report's authors. https://lnkd.in/e7BzMfKW

Today we launch a new monthly column by Rick Smith, president of the Canadian Climate Institute / Institut climatique du Canada. The news on climate out of the U.S. might seem uniformly grim, but as Rick writes, all the negativity belies a vital truth: major progress is happening on climate and clean energy around the world. In this first instalment, Rick enumerates some of the encouraging indicators: - The EU's collective emissions in 2023 were 37% lower than 1990 levels, all while the economy grew by nearly 70%.  - More than half the vehicles in China – the world's largest auto market – are expected to come with a plug-in this year.  - Emissions from the UK's power sector have fallen by three quarters since 2012. There are many more. Don't miss this important contribution to the current discussion about the state of the energy transition: "The vast majority of major economies of the world remain deadly serious about decarbonization. We need to keep pace." https://lnkd.in/eNWyNugw

In the face of political attacks and continued anti-greenwashing activism, investment managers are going silent about their ESG activities. A new report by the Montreal-based financial consulting firm Millani has found that, in Canada at least, ESG integration is “firmly entrenched." "I don’t see investors backing off. There is infrastructure there today that wasn’t there seven years ago, and I think that’s a big difference in the market," says Millani CEO Milla Craig. But is the shift to silence a sign of "greenhushing," or are asset managers and owners simply retreating from accountability? In his latest story, Eugene Ellmen delves into how investors are recalibrating as they confront converging lines of criticism and opposition. https://lnkd.in/g2j5HPaE

"Drill, baby, drill” may be the new mantra out of the Oval Office, but the bottom line tells a different story. If speed is an indicator of success, then the clean energy economy is showing its muscle through robust growth, regardless the sector or corner of the world. California-based shareholder advocates As You Sow and Corporate Knights today released the new cohort of the Carbon Clean200, a global list of 200 publicly traded companies leading the sustainable #cleanenergy economy. https://lnkd.in/d8hZFfKX

New York City’s new congestion charge really is begging for motorist analogies. It stalled. It sputtered out of the gate. Its hazards are still blinking. And while the path cleared for the first vehicle-toll plan of its kind in the United States to take effect in early January, it now faces a presidential threat. Natalie Alcoba reports. #DonaldTrump #NewYorkCity #roadpricing https://lnkd.in/d_wyg4-k

United States Vice President JD Vance made headlines this week by refusing to sign a declaration at a global summit in Paris on artificial intelligence. But upon a closer look, events this week point to signs that just the opposite may be unfolding. A host of nations took notable steps towards address growing safety and environmental concerns about AI, indicating that a regulatory tipping point has been reached, writes Robert Diab of Thompson Rivers University. #AI #artificialintelligence #climatecrisis https://lnkd.in/d7JA24Q9

The anti-DEI agenda has benefitted from Trump's return to office, but it also faces resistance from an unlikely source: bank execs. In his latest story, Eugene Ellmen reports on how two CEOs at giant Wall Street financial institutions are speaking out against shareholders who want to terminate their diversity and inclusion policies. “Bring them on," says Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan. DEI policies are important to keep the bank in sync with the diversity of its client base, says David Solomon of Goldman Sachs. It's not just banks, of course. Costco has also stepped into the ring and slapped down an investor resolution condemning its DEI policies. DEI policies are not illegal, as Trump has claimed, and are protected under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. They are also, quite simply, good for business. Read the story: https://lnkd.in/dN8qSGUe