NDP MP Alistair MacGregor introduced Private Member’s Bill C-315, which would amend the investment policies, standards and procedures of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to ensure that they are in line with environmental, labour, and human rights. Canadians expect these funds to be invested ethically.
“We know that urgent changes are needed in order to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C. Despite this, the CPP Board is investing billions of dollars in the oil and gas sector,” stated MacGregor. “Canadians know we are running out of time to prevent catastrophic climate change and want urgent action to address it. They expect our Canada Pension Plan to also be invested accordingly.”
Currently, the CPP Board has billions of dollars in direct private investments in the oil and gas sector and was recently found to have increased holdings in two private U.S. companies that run American prisons and incarcerate the majority of detained immigrants. There is also significant holdings in various arms manufacturing industries and has previously invested in companies implicated in human rights abuses.
“My bill sets out a principled legislative framework while ensuring investments are still made to maximize returns without undue risk of loss to people throughout the country,” added MacGregor. “The Canada Pension Plan is an important part of our country’s retirement system, but Canadians expect that the investments which ensure its continued funding are carried out with certain principles in mind – specifically, ensuring we are not contributing toward the destruction of our planet or perpetuating human misery and suffering.”
MacGregor’s bill does not change the mandate of the CPP Board, but rather seeks to specify that no investments may be held in companies that have performed acts or carried out work contrary to ethical business practices or has committed human, labour or environmental rights violations.
Click here for the full text of the bill: C-315 (44-1) - LEGISinfo - Parliament of Canada
Here's a list (compiled in 2020) of Past CPPIB Unethical Investment Holdings
Major Carbon Emitters
The CPPIB invests in the following companies, which are among the top 50 cumulative producers of industrial GHG emissions:
Alpha Bank AE
Alpha Group
Anglo American Platinum Ltd
Anglo American PLC
Arch Capital Group Ltd
BHP Group Ltd Depository Receipt
China Coal Energy Co Ltd A
China Coal Energy Co Ltd H
China Coal Xinji Energy Co Ltd
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp
Gazprom Neft PJSC Depositary Receipt
Gazprom PJSC
LUKOIL PJSC Depositary Receipt
Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd
Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd
Petronas Dagangan Bhd
Petronas Gas Bhd
Rosneft Oil Co PJSC
Rosneft Oil Co PJSC Depositary Receipt
RWE AG
Sasol Ltd
Surgutneftegas PJSC
Surgutneftegas PJSC Depositary Receipt
Gazprom PJSC Depositary Receipt
LUKOIL PJSC
Surgutneftegas PJSC Depositary Receipt – Preference
Surgutneftegas PJSC Preference
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Responsible Mining Index
The Responsible Mining Index 2018 ranks the performance of 30 mining companies on economic, environmental, social and governance practices. It finds that no company meets best practices for any of its six thematic areas. The CPPIB invests in the following companies, listed on the Responsible Mining Index Report:
Anglo American Platinum Ltd
Anglo American PLC
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd Depositary Receipt
ArcelorMittal
Banpu PCL
Banpu PCL Depositary Receipt
Banpu Power PCL
Banpu Power PCL Depositary Receipt
Barrick Gold Corp
BHP Group Ltd Depositary Receipt
Evraz PLC
Exxaro Resources Ltd
Freeport-McMoRan Inc
Gold Fields Ltd
Goldcorp Inc
Grupo Mexico SAB de CV
Newmont Mining Corp
Teck Resources Ltd
Vale Indonesia Tbk PT
Vedanta Ltd
Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd A
Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd H
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Major Arms-Producing and Military Service Companies
The Stolkholm International Peace Research Institute identifies the top 100 companies with the highest value of arms sales, by dollar value. The CPPIB invests in the following companies, which are listed in the SIPRI Report:
Airbus SE
Arconic Inc
Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS
BAE Systems PLC
Ball Corp
Boeing Co/The
CAE Inc
Dassault Aviation SA
Fujitsu Ltd
General Dynamics Corp
General Electric Co
Harris Corp
Honeywell International Inc
IHI Corp
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd
L3 Technologies Inc
Leonardo SpA
Lockheed Martin Corp
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd
NEC Corp
Northrop Grumman Corp
Oshkosh Corp
QinetiQ Group PLC
Raytheon Co
Rheinmetall AG
Saab AB
Teledyne Technologies Inc
Textron Inc
TransDigm Group Inc
United Technologies Corp
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Public Eye Awards
From 2000 until 2015 Public Eye hosted “awards of shame” for companies with poor corporate social responsibility records. The CPPIB invests in the following companies, which have received these “awards”:
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd Depositary Receipt
Bridgestone Corp
Citigroup Inc
Dow DuPont
Gazprom Neft PJSC Depositary Receipt
Gazprom PJSC
Gazprom PJSC Depositary Receipt
Goldman Sachs Vintage Fund IV
Goldman Sachs Vintage Fund V
Neste Oyj
Newmont Mining Corp
Novartis AG
Novartis AG Depositary Receipt
Roche Holding AG
Royal Bank of Canada
Vale Indonesia Tbk PT
Walmart Inc
Walt Disney Co/The