In this Climate Pension Quarterly, we examine the impact of the unfolding war across the Middle East on global markets, with volatility creating a fossil fuel supply shock, sending oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) prices skyrocketing. We now live in an era of cheap and abundant renewable energy technologies that can be deployed quickly. With the fragility and volatility of global oil and gas supply chains once again on display, we can expect countries of all income levels to work harder to get off the oil and gas rollercoaster and secure their energy futures with cheap renewable energy and battery storage.

Last month, Canadians attending public meetings held by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in Alberta pressed the managers of our $780-billion national pension fund on a growing contradiction: CPPIB executives acknowledge climate change is the biggest risk facing the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) – yet CPPIB continues to invest as if that wasn’t the case - betting billions on fossil fuel expansion. Read our key takeaways here.

In an op-ed published in Corporate Knights, Shift’s Campaign Specialist Cheryl Randall and Senior Manager Patrick DeRochie write that write that as four young Canadians take the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to court over climate risk, the fund must confront its fossil fuel investments and strengthen its climate governance to ensure the long-term security of Canadians’ pensions.

In this Climate Pension Quarterly, we examine the global momentum of the energy transition and the forces driving it. Political noise and oil and gas industry talking points cannot change the fact that pension funds need a stable climate in order to protect their long-term returns and meet their obligations to beneficiaries. When policymakers and other investors waver on their climate commitments, it becomes even more important for pension funds to hold the line.

In this Climate Pension Quarterly, we examine growing political pressure on pension funds to back fossil fuel expansion, highlight new legal and scientific developments raising the financial stakes, track recent moves by Canadian pension funds in and out of oil and gas, and spotlight our ongoing scrutiny of CPPIB’s fossil fuel investments and influence.

The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which is already being utilized by many of Canada’s largest pension funds, has clearly spelled out that net-zero alignment requires pension funds to end project financing for any fossil fuel expansion immediately, and cut off financing of any company involved in fossil fuel expansion by 2030 at the latest. Will Canadian pension funds apply the new SBTi Financial Institute Net-Zero Standard to themselves?

BC is experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change in real time, including unprecedented wildfires, devastating heat domes, and flooding that has caused billions in damages. Climate impacts are not some distant threat for BC, but a current reality. Yet BCI continues to lag behind other Canadian and international pension funds on its approach to the climate crisis. Read Shift’s climate and energy analysis of BCI’s 2024-2025 Annual Report.

Today’s release of CDPQ’s 2025-2030 Climate Strategy and Transition Financing Framework reveals a credible, comprehensive plan to protect Quebec pensions by achieving net-zero by 2050 and investing in a safe climate future. It affirms that CDPQ’s leadership understands that climate-safe investing is imperative for achieving the fund’s core mandate. The strategy further positions CDPQ as a global climate leader while exposing yawning shortcomings in the climate strategies of other Canadian pension managers, particularly CPPIB.

In this Climate Pension Quarterly, we cover both the good and the bad climate and energy updates in the annual reports from six pension funds, recap recent investment transactions in fossil fuels and renewable energy, bring you news from pension fund portfolio companies, and provide an overview of climate-related votes at recent annual general meetings at Canadian banks.

Last month, Ontario’s University Pension Plan (UPP) released its annual report. UPP members should be re-assured that their pension manager demonstrated a continuing commitment to investing in a safe climate future.UPP continues to share the top spot on Shift’s annual Canadian Pension Climate Report Card for good reason. UPP is perfectly positioned to continue to lead by example: now’s the time for your pension manager to announce that it will be the first of Canada’s large pension funds to end all investments in oil, gas and pipelines.

On May 21, the news broke that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) had quietly abandoned its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050. But CPPIB’s abandonment of its net-zero commitment should perhaps come as no surprise– because it was never credible anyway. For years, Shift has meticulously documented how the actions and investment decisions of CPPIB and its privately-owned fossil fuel companies are expanding and prolonging the use of oil and gas. In retrospect, the writing was on the wall.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) 2024 Annual Report, includes an update on the fund’s climate strategy. OTPP continues to make progress on its climate strategy and invest in opportunities that “help to accelerate the broad transition to a low-carbon future.” But the pension manager’s most recent annual report comes a month after OTPP fell out of the top three spots on Shift’s 2024 Canadian Pension Climate Report Card because of its lack of ambition and continued investments in high-risk fossil fuels.

In this Climate Pension Quarterly: in a time of political turmoil, pension funds need to lean into their expertise and influence to lead on climate. January-March 2025 updates from Canadian funds reveal an unsteady mix of climate-aligned activities alongside bets on climate failure.

CPPIB executives disclosed to Canadians at its public meetings that 3.5% of its portfolio – approximately $22.6 billion – is invested in fossil fuels. This is likely an underestimate that omits CPPIB’s significant holdings in fossil fuel private equity, gas and electric utilities and other fossil fuel infrastructure. Following CPPIB’s release of its Second Quarter Fiscal 2025 results in November, Shift calculated that CPPIB has committed at least $3.3 billion of Canadians’ retirement savings in new oil, gas, coal and pipeline assets in 2024.

In this Climate Pension Quarterly: oil and gas company greenwash; recaps of reports from CPPIB, BCI, UPP and OPTrust; five international pension funds announce fossil fuel exclusions or divestment; IMCO, CDPQ, PSP and OTPP make investments for a safe climate future; escalating climate-related financial risks for companies that Canadian pension funds invest in; Canada Growth Fund in talks with Pathways Alliance; and more.

In this Climate Pension Quarterly: leadership on pension fund climate-alignment from New York and Europe, Canadian pension funds still misguidedly trying to engage oil and gas companies on climate, and the Canada Pension Plan keeps pouring money into expansionist oil and gas companies – all against the backdrop of "the most challenging summer on record" and its associated financial costs.

Alberta’s public pension manager, the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), is suggesting that its failure to set credible climate targets somehow makes it better at decarbonizing assets. We break down for AIMCo how other pension funds have figured out how to walk and chew gum at the same time. For the sake of its members and beneficiaries, AIMCo must put forward a credible climate plan that navigates its portfolio to zero emissions and puts hard stops on investing in fossil fuel expansion.

Shift recaps how Canadian pensions voted on climate-related resolutions at TD and Enbridge, outlining the leaders, the laggards and the opaque.

In this Climate Pension Quarterly: climate updates from the annual reports of seven pension funds, a recap of the 2024 shareholder season, updates on the Canada Pension Plan’s oil and gas companies, and much more.

In deciding whether or not to support a shareholder proposal calling for full disclosure of Enbridge’s scope 3 emissions on May 8th, Canada’s largest pension funds need look no further than their own policies, reports or membership in Climate Engagement Canada.

On May 8th, Enbridge is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM), where the shareholders and executives of Canada’s largest fossil fuel pipeline company will gather to make key decisions about the coming year. Shareholders will be voting on a proposal asking the company to “annually disclose all of its scope 3 emissions using accepted definitions and in absolute terms.”

For Canada’s pension sector, voting for the scope 3 emissions proposal at Enbridge’s AGM should be a no-brainer.