Canadian institutional investor, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (La Caisse, formerly CDPQ), announced a new sustainable investing target, aiming to reach $400 billion in “climate action” investments by the end of this decade.
The pledge, unveiled as part of La Caisse’s 2025–2030 climate strategy, marks a major acceleration in the asset owner’s efforts to drive global decarbonization and support the energy transition, following La Caisse’s success in surpassing its prior climate goals, set in 2021, to reach $54 billion investments in low carbon assets and $10 billion in industrial decarbonization investments by 2025.
La Caisse also said that its portfolio has decarbonized much faster than expected, with the firm recently reporting a 69% decrease in portfolio carbon intensity since 2017, well ahead of its goal of 60% by 2030.
Bertrand Millot, Head of Sustainability at La Caisse, said:
“Since 2017, our approach to the climate has paid off: our portfolio has decarbonized faster than anticipated. Our target is to make future-oriented investments that will favorably position us to achieve our goal of a net zero portfolio by 2050.”
The 2025–2030 strategy aims to build on this momentum with a dual-pronged investment approach, through which La Caisse will both focus on backing companies that are integrating climate considerations into their business models and scaling investments in climate solutions contributing to the decarbonization of the real economy.
La Caisse will be targeting low-carbon assets, such as renewable energy infrastructure, nature-based solutions like sustainable forestry, adaptation and resilience solutions that strengthen communities against climate risks, and climate solution enablers – like software and intellectual property – that support the mechanics of global transition.
The updated strategy is underpinned by its Transition Financing Framework which was developed in alignment with global standards and validated by the Climate Bonds Initiative.
Charles Emond, La Caisse’s President and CEO, said:
“We are reaffirming our sustainable investing convictions because they are at the heart of our fiduciary responsibility. 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.”
La Caisse’s new commitments contrast with some of their Canadian financial sector peers who have pulled back on their climate goals, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), which recently dropped its net zero by 2050 target, and RBC, which announced in April that it had withdrawn its goal to mobilize $500 billion in sustainable finance by 2025.
