The Energy Mix

Top Menu

  • About
  • Latest Digest/Archive
  • Partners
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact

Main Menu

  • News Archive by Category
    • Climate & Society
      • Carbon Levels & Measurement
      • Carbon-Free Transition
      • Climate Action/”Blockadia”
      • Climate Denial & Greenwashing
      • Climate Policy/Meetings/Negotiations
      • Culture, Curiosities, & Humour
      • Demographics
      • Energy Politics
      • Energy Subsidies
      • Energy/Carbon Pricing & Economics
      • Finance & Investment
      • First Peoples
      • Insurance & Liability
      • International Agencies & Studies
      • Jobs & Training
      • Legal & Regulatory
      • Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion
      • Methane
      • Travel, Leisure & Recreation
    • Climate Impacts & Adaptation
      • Biodiversity & Habitat
      • Drought, Famine & Wildfires
      • Food Security
      • Forests & Deforestation
      • Health & Safety
      • Heat & Temperature
      • Human Rights & Migration
      • Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise
      • International Security & War
      • Severe Storms & Flooding
      • Soil & Natural Sequestration
      • Water
    • Demand & Distribution
      • Air & Marine
      • Auto & Alternative Vehicles
      • Batteries/Storage
      • Buildings
      • Cities
      • Electricity Grid
      • Energy Access & Equity
      • Off-Grid
      • Petrochemicals & Plastics
      • Supply Chains & Consumption
      • Transit
      • Walking & Biking
    • Jurisdictions
      • Africa
      • Arctic & Antarctica
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • International
      • Mexico, Caribbean & Latin America
      • Middle East
      • Oceans
      • Small Island States
      • South & Central America
      • Sub-National Governments
      • United States
    • Non-Renewable Energy
      • CCS & Negative Emissions
      • Coal
      • Nuclear
      • Oil & Gas
      • Pipelines/Rail Transport
      • Shale & Fracking
      • Tar Sands/Oil Sands
    • Opinion & Analysis
    • Renewable Energy
      • Bioenergy
      • Demand & Efficiency
      • General Renewables
      • Geothermal
      • Hydrogen
      • Hydropower
      • Research & Development
      • Solar
      • Wave & Tidal
      • Wind
  • Special Reports
    • Alberta’s Bitumen Pipe Dream
    • Canada’s Drive to Net Zero
    • Carbon Farming
    • City and Sub-National Action
    • Drawdown
    • Drive to 1.5
    • 26-Week Climate Transition Program for Canada
    • America’s Electoral Climate 2020
    • Canada’s Climate Change Election 2019
    • The Energy Mix Yearbook 2018
      • Climate Extremes
      • Fossils Go For Broke
      • Renewables (R)Evolution
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Canada’s Contradiction
      • COP24
      • Pipeline Politics
      • Jobs and Just Transition
      • Cities and Sub-Nationals
      • Finance and Divestment
      • Climate Litigation
  • Webinars & Podcasts
  • About
  • Latest Digest/Archive
  • Partners
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

logo

  • News Archive by Category
    • Climate & Society
      • Carbon Levels & Measurement
      • Carbon-Free Transition
      • Climate Action/”Blockadia”
      • Climate Denial & Greenwashing
      • Climate Policy/Meetings/Negotiations
      • Culture, Curiosities, & Humour
      • Demographics
      • Energy Politics
      • Energy Subsidies
      • Energy/Carbon Pricing & Economics
      • Finance & Investment
      • First Peoples
      • Insurance & Liability
      • International Agencies & Studies
      • Jobs & Training
      • Legal & Regulatory
      • Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion
      • Methane
      • Travel, Leisure & Recreation
    • Climate Impacts & Adaptation
      • Biodiversity & Habitat
      • Drought, Famine & Wildfires
      • Food Security
      • Forests & Deforestation
      • Health & Safety
      • Heat & Temperature
      • Human Rights & Migration
      • Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise
      • International Security & War
      • Severe Storms & Flooding
      • Soil & Natural Sequestration
      • Water
    • Demand & Distribution
      • Air & Marine
      • Auto & Alternative Vehicles
      • Batteries/Storage
      • Buildings
      • Cities
      • Electricity Grid
      • Energy Access & Equity
      • Off-Grid
      • Petrochemicals & Plastics
      • Supply Chains & Consumption
      • Transit
      • Walking & Biking
    • Jurisdictions
      • Africa
      • Arctic & Antarctica
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • International
      • Mexico, Caribbean & Latin America
      • Middle East
      • Oceans
      • Small Island States
      • South & Central America
      • Sub-National Governments
      • United States
    • Non-Renewable Energy
      • CCS & Negative Emissions
      • Coal
      • Nuclear
      • Oil & Gas
      • Pipelines/Rail Transport
      • Shale & Fracking
      • Tar Sands/Oil Sands
    • Opinion & Analysis
    • Renewable Energy
      • Bioenergy
      • Demand & Efficiency
      • General Renewables
      • Geothermal
      • Hydrogen
      • Hydropower
      • Research & Development
      • Solar
      • Wave & Tidal
      • Wind
  • Special Reports
    • Alberta’s Bitumen Pipe Dream
    • Canada’s Drive to Net Zero
    • Carbon Farming
    • City and Sub-National Action
    • Drawdown
    • Drive to 1.5
    • 26-Week Climate Transition Program for Canada
    • America’s Electoral Climate 2020
    • Canada’s Climate Change Election 2019
    • The Energy Mix Yearbook 2018
      • Climate Extremes
      • Fossils Go For Broke
      • Renewables (R)Evolution
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Canada’s Contradiction
      • COP24
      • Pipeline Politics
      • Jobs and Just Transition
      • Cities and Sub-Nationals
      • Finance and Divestment
      • Climate Litigation
  • Webinars & Podcasts
Advanced Search
CanadaCarbon Levels & MeasurementCarbon-Free TransitionFinance & InvestmentUnited States
Home›Jurisdictions›Canada›Banks Swing into Action as Investors Demand Closer Look at Carbon Risk

Banks Swing into Action as Investors Demand Closer Look at Carbon Risk

September 30, 2018
September 30, 2018
 
21
0
Share:
  •  
  • 5
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
    5
    Shares
  Print This Story
Ian Muttoo/Flickr

With more and more investors taking an interest in the carbon footprint of the companies whose stocks they hold, the country’s chartered banks “are responding by offering tools and services to meet growing demand for transparency on carbon emissions,” the Financial Post reports.

In a report released last month, Toronto-based proxy consultancy Kingsdale Advisors stated that shareholder resolutions on companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance have “arrived” in Canada, with shareholders taking a more active role on specific issues and big institutional investors like BlackRock and Fidelity Investments either putting forward more proposals or supporting them when they come up for a vote.

“This year, we saw a record number of majority-supported ESG proposals in the United States and a strong reception to proposals in Canada,” the report stated.

Like this story? Subscribe to The Energy Mix and never miss an edition of our free e-digest.

SUBSCRIBE

“ESG is an element that has increased significantly and, I daresay, exponentially over the last five years,” said CIBC Capital Markets equity strategist Ian de Verteuil. “In Canada, it’s probably been over the last two or three years. Canada’s been a little slower to deal with these things.”

But “more and more so, you’re hearing not just from niche investors that have a pure ESG mandate,” said Andrew Craig, director of environmental affairs at Royal Bank of Canada. “Some of our mainstream investors have been asking those questions as well, and that obviously gets the attention of the organization.”

Last month, de Verteuil was part of a team that updated CIBC’s carbon risk assessment, which competes against independent evaluations from companies like Sustainalytics and MSCI Inc. For companies that emit carbon, he said higher carbon taxes represent “a financial risk to the extent that these climate policies take hold.”

But that kind of assessment becomes more challenging when government carbon policies are volatile, as they’ve recently been in Ontario and could soon enough be in Alberta.

“Carbon has been a particular focal point for institutional investors, bank analysts, and credit ratings agencies, as carbon tax policies could have a material financial impact on several sectors, including the Canadian energy, utilities, and mining industries,” the Post states. “Analyzing carbon risk is difficult even in consistent policy environments, but recent dramatic changes and some outright reversals in environmental policy both in Canada and the U.S. add to the challenges.”

In April, Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. noted that a group of major investors with a combined US$28 trillion under management had committed to “actively engage with the 100 global companies that have the highest levels of carbon emissions.” That list included Canadian fossils and mining companies Suncor Energy, Imperial Oil, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., and Teck Resources.

“Understanding carbon risk in a portfolio can help investors make better decisions,” Morningstar stated.

The Post notes that Moody’s Investors Services “has also been changing the ratings on account of climate change, and including more commentary in its ratings actions on how carbon risk assessments or climate change issues are affecting an issuer’s credit rating.”

Tags26 WeeksBitumen BubbleBitumen Bubble Finance & Divestment
Share:
  •  
  • 5
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
    5
    Shares
  Print This Story

Find more stories about
CanadaCarbon Levels & MeasurementCarbon-Free TransitionFinance & InvestmentUnited States

    Leave a reply Cancel reply

    Recent Posts

    • BREAKING: Texas Was ‘Seconds and Minutes’ from Months-Long Blackouts, Grid Operator Admits
      BREAKING: Texas Was ‘Seconds and Minutes’ from Months-Long Blackouts, Grid Operator Admits
      February 19, 2021
    • Missouri Solar Installer Reports ‘Overwhelming’ Interest as Customers Face Rolling Blackouts
      Missouri Solar Installer Reports ‘Overwhelming’ Interest as Customers Face Rolling Blackouts
      February 19, 2021
    • California Senate Bill Would Halt New Fracking, Set 2027 ban
      California Senate Bill Would Halt New Fracking, Set 2027 ban
      February 19, 2021
    • Alberta Business Council Calls for Provincial Sales Tax, Reinstated Carbon Tax
      Alberta Business Council Calls for Provincial Sales Tax, Reinstated Carbon Tax
      February 19, 2021
    • Ottawa Underestimates Carbon Tax Rebates after Revenue Exceeds Predictions
      Ottawa Underestimates Carbon Tax Rebates after Revenue Exceeds Predictions
      February 19, 2021

    News Feed

    Top News

    • Carney’s Brookfield Asset Management Plans $7.5B Green Investment Fund
      February 18, 2021
    • Infrastructure Giant Macquarie Raises Nearly $2B for Green Investments
      February 18, 2021

    Read More

    Carbon-Free Transition

    • Salesforce ‘Work from Anywhere’ Order Could Shake Up Downtown San Francisco
      February 18, 2021
    • Colossal Fossil Total Buys Solar, Storage Assets in Texas
      February 18, 2021

    Read More

    Canada

    • Carney’s Brookfield Asset Management Plans $7.5B Green Investment Fund
      February 18, 2021
    • Study Pinpoints Quebec’s Fair Share of Global Emission Reductions
      February 18, 2021

    Read More

    U.S.

    • U.S. Grid Operators Look for Gigawatt-Scale Storage
      February 18, 2021
    • Agencies Aren’t Disclosing COVID Hospitalizations among U.S. Wildfire Fighters
      February 18, 2021

    Read More

    International

    • Infrastructure Giant Macquarie Raises Nearly $2B for Green Investments
      February 18, 2021
    • Climate Goals Depend on Transition in Developing Countries: IEA
      February 18, 2021

    Read More

    • About the Energy Mix
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy and Copyright
    Copyright 2020 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.