CPPIB abandons its net-zero commitment and its obligations to Canadians
For immediate release
Toronto, ON | Traditional territories of the Wendat, Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas, and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation
Today, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments, or CPPIB) abandoned its commitment to invest the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) in line with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, first announced in February 2022.
This is an unacceptable abdication of responsibility from the people responsible for managing the collective retirement savings of more than 22 million Canadians.
Net-zero commitments are not optional. They have become essential tools to manage risk and maximize long-term financial returns for pension funds. Climate impacts are already reducing global GDP growth, threatening the stability of financial markets and disrupting lives and livelihoods in Canada and around the world. If the climate crisis isn’t addressed, experts have warned that pension funds like CPPIB are unlikely to generate the stable, future returns necessary to pay out their long-term obligations.
In backing out of a promise to invest in line with its net-zero by 2050 commitment, CPPIB’s management has failed to undertake its most fundamental purpose – to responsibly manage the long-term collective savings of working and retired Canadians.
Working Canadians currently under the age of 40 won’t be eligible to receive their CPP benefits until after 2050. What kind of a world are Canadians expected to retire into? How would CPPIB be able to sustain benefits in a world of climate breakdown?
The abandonment of CPPIB’s net-zero commitment is difficult to find. CPPIB casually referenced net-zero on page 23 of its 2025 Annual Report, released this morning, but buried its abandonment of net-zero in an FAQ section on its Approach to Sustainability webpage.
CPPIB’s net-zero abandonment makes a vague mention of “recent legal developments”-- most likely a reference to amendments to the Competition Act enacted in June 2024 that are designed to address greenwashing. This could be a tacit admission that CPPIB was aware that its statements on net-zero weren't in line with internationally-recognized standards.
Many different international net-zero standards for financial institutions exist. But instead of working to improve its climate strategy, CPPIB retreated from its net-zero commitment. This appears to be a recognition that the investment manager had been greenwashing its approach to climate.
CPPIB’s decision to follow only a passive approach to climate is at odds with its role as an active investor. Investment decisions for the $714-billion CPP have a significant impact on the ability of Canada and the world to achieve science-based goals to stabilize global temperatures at relatively safe levels.
CPPIB’s retreat contrasts sharply with other Canadian pension funds that are staying the course on net-zero while facing the same “recent legal developments.” Seven of Canada’s largest pension funds remain committed to net-zero. In our annual Canadian Pension Climate Report Card, Shift noted ongoing improvement in climate strategies from the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and Ontario’s University Pension Plan over the course of 2024.
CPPIB’s investment and asset management decisions have been misaligned with a credible net-zero strategy ever since it first made this commitment in 2022. CPPIB has continued to make investments in fossil fuel expansion in violation of credible science-based commitments and prudent due diligence to avoid exposure to stranded assets and systemic climate risks.
For an extensive list of examples of CPPIB and its portfolio companies undermining the investment manager’s net-zero commitment over the course of CPPIB’s Fiscal Year 2025 reporting period, see:
Shift. CPPIB Watch: A Quarterly Update on CPPIB-owned Fossil Fuel Companies:
Background information:
Shift’s detailed analysis of CPPIB’s approach to climate risk and investments in fossil fuels (as of December 31, 2024).
Shift. CPPIB’s fundamentally flawed decarbonization thesis for fossil fuels. (February 2025).
Ortec Finance. Climate change could erode Canadian pension fund returns by 44%. (January 2025).
University of Exeter and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries: Planetary Solvency finding our balance with nature - Global risk management for human prosperity. (January 2025)
Contact information for interview requests:
Patrick DeRochie, Senior Manager, Shift Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health
patrick@shiftaction.ca
416-576-2701
Adam Scott, Executive Director, Shift Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health
adamscott@shiftaction.ca
416-347-3858
Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health is a charitable initiative that works to protect pensions and the climate by bringing together beneficiaries and their pension funds to engage on the climate crisis.
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