Canadian pension funds fall short on climate investment policies, report finds

Canada’s major pension funds are not prepared to protect their beneficiaries from the worsening climate crisis, according to the inaugural Canadian Pension Climate Report Card, released by Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health.

The report used an independent benchmark for evaluating the quality, depth and credibility of 11 Canadian pension managers’ climate policies, based on the latest science and international best practice. It assigned letter grades to pension funds based on six indicators, including Paris-aligned targets, interim targets, climate urgency, climate engagement, climate integration and use-of-fossil-fuel exclusion. The analysis also assesses the extent to which pensions managers disclose how they consider Indigenous rights in their investments and stewardship.

Overall, the report found a high level of inconsistency with the degree of urgency, detail, transparency and ambition of pension-fund approaches for managing climate-rela