Caisse to sell off remaining oil assets by next year

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec says it will divest all of its oil investments by next year as part of the pension plan’s plan to help combat climate change by cutting its carbon footprint in half by 2030.

The province’s public pension fund unveiled its climate change strategy on Tuesday.

A core plank of the policy is to divest all assets that produce crude oil products by the end of 2022.

“The climate situation affects everyone, and we can no longer address it with the same methods used a few years ago,” CEO Charles Emond said. “We have to make important decisions on issues such as oil production and decarbonizing sectors that are essential to our economies.”

The pension plan has been selling off assets in the oil sector, but the declaration means it will move ahead with selling off what it has left — currently about one per cent of its total portfolio of $390 billion.

The fund also says it will move its oil money to other investments, with a view to buying up $54 billion in “green assets” by 2025.

Overall, the pension fund says it plans to reduce its total carbon footprint by 60 per cent by 2030.

“With this new strategy, we are demonstrating our leadership as an investor and enter the next stage of climate investing. We believe this is in the interests of our depositors, our portfolio companies and the communities we invest in,” Emond said.

CBC