Fund reaffirms sustainable investing focus because they are "at the heart" of its fiduciary responsibility
One of Canada’s largest pension funds and a member of the Maple 8 has introduced a new climate strategy for 2025–2030, reinforcing its long-term commitment to building a climate-resilient portfolio and supporting the real economy’s transition.
Formerly CDPQ, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (La Caisse), which manages pension and insurance assets globally, announced they are “significantly” scaling up its investments in climate solutions and transition-aligned companies with a target of $400 billion by 2030.
“In 2025, we are entering a new phase in our climate strategy with the ambition to accelerate the decarbonization of companies and the economy. This is the best approach for long-term performance for our depositors,” they said in their strategy.
CDPQ’s announcement follows its achievement of key climate milestones ahead of schedule. As of year-end 2024, the fund had already surpassed its targets set in 2017 and revised in 2021, achieving a nearly 50 per cent reduction in portfolio carbon intensity, outpacing global emissions trends, which rose by 6 per cent over the same period.
“We are reaffirming our sustainable investing convictions because they are at the heart of our fiduciary responsibility,” said Charles Emond, president and CEO at CDPQ. “We are demonstrating even greater ambition by going beyond calculating our portfolio’s carbon emissions to work even harder on transitioning the real economy across all sectors by encouraging the companies we invest in to adopt clear and credible decarbonization plans. We do this with a view to long-term value creation and sound risk management for our depositors.”
CDPQ will intensify its engagement and capital allocation toward companies integrating climate objectives into their business models. Rather than divesting, the fund will invest across sectors to help companies lower their emissions and focus on real economy decarbonization and enhancing their resilience to transition risks.
The fund will also target growth in four forward-looking categories: low-carbon assets, including renewable energy, electrification, and related infrastructure; nature-based solutions, such as sustainable forestry and carbon capture through land conservation; adaptation and resilience investments, aimed at mitigating the physical impacts of climate change on communities and infrastructure and enabling technologies and services, such as software, data, and intellectual property that support the net-zero transition.
“Our target is to make future-oriented investments that will favourably position us to achieve our goal of a net-zero portfolio by 2050,” said Bertrand Millot, head of sustainability at La Caisse.
“By actively supporting companies with integrating climate issues into their business model, we will leverage the expertise and commitment of our teams to accelerate the transition in Québec and around the world.”
La Caisse underscored in their strategy that sustainable investing allows the fund to seize attractive investment opportunities. protect their portfolio, which remains exposed to climate and transition risks, and deliver the returns their depositors need.
