Climate Engagement Canada (CEC) is a finance-led initiative that drives dialogue between finance and industry to promote a just transition to a net zero economy (by 2050). This initiative is supported by the PRI.

The CEC initiative is coordinated by several investor networks including the Responsible Investment Association (RIA), Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), and Ceres. The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is also supporting the program. The RIA and SHARE serve as the joint secretariat, and the initiative has leveraged strategic leadership from Barbara Zvan, who served as a member of Canada’s Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance.

The CEC program is launched on 14 October 2021, with 27 investors as Founding Participants, who collectively manage more than $3 trillion in assets. A complete list of Founding Participants and supporting organizations is available on the CEC website.

The CEC’s development was inspired by Canada’s Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, which in 2019 made a series of recommendations to align Canada’s financial system with a low carbon future. One of the Expert Panel’s recommendations was to establish a national engagement program, akin to the global Climate Action 100+ initiative, to drive a broader and more consistent dialogue with Canadian issuers around climate risks and opportunities. Climate Engagement Canada is that program.

CEC investor participants will identify approximately 40 of the country’s highest GHG-emitting corporations, and will work collaboratively to engage with these companies to encourage leading practices with respect to climate change risks and opportunities.

The CEC’s engagement objectives will be based on the following guiding principles:

  1. Companies should implement a strong governance framework that clearly defines board and senior leadership accountabilities and oversight of climate change risks and opportunities.
  2. Companies should develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to reduce GHG emissions and build climate resiliency across the value chain, consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement (to limit the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C). This should include:
    1. Strategies to reflect Canada’s evolving economic context, including “just transition” goals in the context of each company’s unique trajectory and impacts (e.g. impacted employee groups, land use, biodiversity).
    2. An enhanced Oil & Natural Gas industry-wide commitment to responsible production and adequate GHG emission transparency.
    3. An ambition to achieve Net-Zero GHG emissions by 2050, consistent with a 1.5°C scenario as detailed by the IPCC.
  3. Companies should set measurable, sector-relevant targets.
  4. Companies should disclose in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
  5. Companies should align their advocacy activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement, whether internal or in partnership with external groups or trade associations.

For more information or to find out about getting involved, please visit: https://climateengagement.ca/

 

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