Why Pension Fund Decisions Matter
Workers’ retirement savings make up a huge amount of money. Canada’s biggest public pensions have over $2.5 trillion in assets under management. CUPE members belong to several of these large pension plans, including workplace pensions and the national Canada Pension Plan.
Our retirement savings are invested in buildings, highways, airports, ports, companies, the stock market, and other infrastructure and investment tools.
All of these things can be put at risk by climate change. Think about wildfires that destroy buildings or floods and severe storms that disrupt a large company’s supply chain.
It doesn’t make sense for our pension funds to keep investing in products and companies that are making climate change worse and putting our savings at risk. New investments in coal, oil, gas and related infrastructure are making it harder for us to have a healthy planet and a safe retirement.
Our pension savings can be part of the problem or part of the solution. Investments in gas plants, pipelines and oil companies will lead to more pollution, dirtier air and water, and more severe wildfires, floods and storms. Investments in renewable energy and improving the electrical grid will help us get to a more secure, affordable energy system. We’ll be able to breathe cleaner air and know we’re leaving a healthy planet for our children and grandchildren.
What We’re Calling for
We’re calling on pension funds to make it crystal clear that they understand how to protect our retirement savings and the planet, including:
Committing to eliminate greenhouse gas pollution from their investments by 2050 so that we can avoid an overheating planet.
Setting short- and medium-term targets so that we know they’re on track.
Identifying and investing in profitable climate solutions so that we’re building a future we want to live in.
Openly communicating about climate change so that we understand how it impacts our retirement savings and their investment decisions.
Working with the companies pension funds own so that those companies are prepared for the risks and opportunities of climate change.
Stopping new investment in coal, oil, gas and pipelines so that we don’t keep making the problem worse.
Announcing how they will phase out or wind down their coal, oil, gas and pipeline investments so that we can safely shift our energy system.
What You Can Do
Featured Action: Don’t let the Canada Pension Plan abandon its net-zero commitment
Learn about campaigns and actions to shift OMERS, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan on climate
Reach out to CUPE’s Climate Justice Committee to learn more
Reach out to CUPE’s Retirees Network to learn more
Subscribe to Shift’s mailing list to get updates about your pension and climate
Reach out to Shift to request a presentation about your pension fund and climate change.
Français: Dites à Votre Caisse de Retraite de Protéger Votre Pension et le Climat
Shift and CUPE Collaboration
At CUPE Ontario’s invitation, Shift has presented to committees, sector conferences and at convention; helped CUPE members draft letters and emails to their pension funds; and provided research on what our pension funds are invested in.
Shift has prepared background information and sample climate-related questions for members to ask at their pension funds’ annual meetings. For example, read about CUPE members' questions asked at the OMERS Annual Meeting in April 2025.
In September 2021, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn, on behalf of thousands of union members, worked with Shift to send a letter to OMERS about its legal obligation to manage climate risks when it invests workers’ savings. Read more about it in Beneficiaries warn Canada’s largest pensions of legal duty to manage climate-related financial risks.
Resources
Shift publishes an annual report card rating the biggest Canadian pension funds on their climate plans.
Read the most recent Canadian Pension Climate Report Card or watch the webinar.
See detailed scores for pensions including the Canada Pension Plan, OMERS, HOOPP, and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a short and simple explanation of the climate crisis?
Coal, oil and gas release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they’re burned, trapping heat in a way that’s similar to heat trapped inside a greenhouse. This is upsetting the Earth’s balance and threatening Earth’s life-giving systems.
The trapped carbon dioxide is causing Earth to overheat. The global average temperature is rising past levels that scientists view as safe. In 2015, the international community agreed in the Paris climate agreement that, to prevent the worst outcomes of climate change, our collective goal would be to keep the global temperature rise to 1.5°C or less.
We are not on track to meet that goal. That is why we are experiencing more intense wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and heatwaves. These will continue to get worse as long as the temperature continues to rise.
The good news is that we can stop things from getting worse by switching to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.
How does the climate crisis affect pensions?
Pensions own assets that can be damaged and lose value in extreme weather events (which are made more likely by climate change).
Pensions own companies that have to transform and adapt in order for us to meet climate goals. Companies that don’t change will lose value and won’t be profitable investments in the long-term. Some companies, such as oil and gas companies, will be unable to adapt in line with climate goals.
Pensions own companies, particularly oil and gas producers, that face lawsuits for contributing to climate change.
Pensions rely on a stable economic system to generate investment returns to pay your pension. The stability of the economic system is threatened by worsening climate change. Severe weather events including drought will threaten food security, disrupt supply chains, and cause climate-related migration and geopolitical conflict. All of this will make it nearly impossible for pension funds to fulfill their financial obligations to their members.
How can pension funds be part of the solution?
Pension funds can invest in renewable energy, electrification and energy storage so that we can build a safe energy system for the future. They can use their influence to require companies they invest in to play their part in reducing pollution. They can stop putting new investment money into the old and outdated coal, oil and gas energy systems. They can lobby governments for legislation and regulations that protect the climate.
What are stranded assets?
We have to stop burning coal, oil and gas in order to keep a safe climate. “Stranded assets” refers to the coal, oil and gas reserves that will lose their value because we can’t use them without destroying the planet. Investors who are stuck owning this “unburnable carbon” will lose money.
But don’t we still need oil and gas?
Yes - we can’t shut down one energy system and start up another overnight. But we can and must build up our new energy system as fast as possible, and that requires a lot of investment and supportive policy. Pension funds need to focus on investing in clean energy and lobbying for climate policy-- not trying to protect the oil and gas industry.
Will my pension lose money if it stops investing in fossil fuels and starts investing in renewables?
Investing in fossil fuels is increasingly risky as the threat of stranded assets grows. A number of research studies have shown that divesting from fossil fuels has either neutral or slightly positive returns for investors.
See:
Canadian Pensions Dashboard for Responsible Investing, 2nd Edition (see p.29)
Canadian Pensions Dashboard for Responsible Investing, 2022 (see p.22)
What about climate justice?
Those that contributed least to the climate crisis are often hit hardest by its impacts.
This includes low-income individuals, workers and communities and workers in Canada, who are the most vulnerable to climate impacts and the least able to prepare and adapt.
This includes young people, whose future is threatened by the burning of fossil fuels from the generations that came before them.
This includes people in the Global South, who may be more vulnerable to sea level rise, coastal flooding, and crop failure, and whose economies have the least resources to adapt and recover.
Advocating for climate-safe pensions is a way to show intergenerational and international solidarity.
What about Indigenous rights?
The history of Canada’s financial system is linked to colonization and continues to harm Indigenous peoples here and around the world. Investors like pension funds must develop policies committing to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships and obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with decisions affecting their lands and waters. Learn more in Shift’s analysis of Canadian pension funds’ Indigenous Rights policies.
Tell your friends!
If enough of us hold our pension funds to account, we can demonstrate the depth of public support to phase out fossil fuels and invest in climate solutions. But in order for our voices to be heard, we have to spread the word about our pension fund managers’ risky investments with everyone we know. Share with your friends and family and networks now!