Only Labor Can Force Canadian Pension Funds to Divest From Oil
One of Canada’s largest institutional investors, responsible for managing billions of dollars in workers’ pensions, has committed to fossil fuel divestment. It’s a good step — but without pressure from the labor movement, these promises will mean nothing.
The 2018 Carr Fire in California, where climate change–driven wildfires have become a regular occurrence. (Eric Coulter / Bureau of Land Management via Flickr)
On September 28, the institutional investor and pension manager Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ) announced that it would no longer invest in oil production. The Caisse made this decision as part of their strategy to reach net-zero by 2050. Canada’s second-largest pension fund manages the retirement contributions of over six million Quebecois. Their stability and security in old age is bound up with the Caisse’s ability to assure returns on its vast asset portfolio.
Although it comes with caveats, the Caisse’s announcement could potentially be the start of a wider movement on the part of investment companies to divest Canada’s public sector pension funds from fossil fuels. With such massive portfolios, pensions could be at the forefront of a just transition.
The Caisse Divests (Sort of)
As a manager, the Caisse invests the contributions of over forty different pension and insurance plans, most notably the Québec Pension Plan and the Government and Public Employees Retirement Plan. It controls $390 billion in assets, which form the basis of the retirement benefits these plans pay out. An institutional investor of remarkable scale, the Caisse has a major influence in global financial markets. Through its asset holdings and its construction subsidiary CDPQ Infra, it also exerts an enormous influence on infrastructure development.
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