Montreal-based pension fund La Caisse’s latest climate strategy has been recognised with the first grade in the A range awarded by NGO Shift, in its fourth annual ranking of Canada’s pension funds.
Formerly known as Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, La Caisse was handed an A- for its 2025-2030 plan, which will direct C$400 billion toward climate action – covering investments in climate solutions and decarbonisation.
The strategy will switch La Caisse’s focus from its portfolio carbon footprint to the decarbonisation pathways and ‘climate maturity’ of portfolio companies, in recognition that the funds’ portfolio was decarbonising faster than the real economy.
Shift also commended La Caisse’s use of the ‘do no significant harm’ principle to prevent investments from “unintentionally locking-in high-emission activities, undermining decarbonisation goals or causing significant harm to other environmental and social objectives”.
Overall, the scorecard reflected a widening performance range across the 11 funds analysed, with only one other scheme – the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System – improving its grade over the past 12 months.
Downgraded pension providers included the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), following its decision last year to pull back from an existing net zero target.
Shift blamed a ‘greenhushing’ trend for the static rankings of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – which hasn’t updated its climate strategy in over three years – as well as British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, which have no emissions reduction or climate investment targets beyond 2025 and 2026, respectively.
“The gap between climate leaders and backsliders is no longer a matter of nuance. It’s widened to reveal a fundamental split in how pension managers view their duty to their members,” said Laura McGrath, Senior Manager at Shift.
A separate analysis by Reclaim Finance found that most institutional investors’ climate targets were inadequate – in terms of quality and scope – for delivering a comprehensive decarbonsation strategy.
The Paris-based campaign group analysed the emissions, alignment, engagement, and climate solutions investment targets of more than 80 global investors, reporting “major shortcomings” that would undermine impact, despite “some progress”.
Reclaim Finance said investors should take a more standardised, simpler and transparent approach to target-setting to accelerate real-economy decarbonisation.
