The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan showcased its sustainability achievements, highlighted by a major investment in renewable energy. (Courtesy Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan)

The latest Canadian ESG corporate commitments come from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, vehicle telematics firm Geotab and electronic payments processor Nuvei.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

A pension fund for Ontario’s teachers headquartered in Toronto, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is one of the largest institutional investors in the world with $241.6 billion in assets, serving around 333,000 working members and pensioners.

Strategy and updates: The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan says it continues to invest in companies which “enable the net-zero transition, reduce emissions and build a sustainable economy and decarbonize high-emission assets.”

It is also setting its portfolio companies on a path to implement net-zero plans and reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In 2021, it invested or committed over $5 billion in assets that enable the net-zero transition and decarbonize high-emission assets. One example is a 50 per cent stake in a NextEra Energy portfolio of renewable energy assets in the U.S.

NextEra Energy is one of the largest wind and solar energy producers in the world with $50 billion to $55 billion in planned investments for American infrastructure through 2022.

In 2021, the Ontario Teachers’ Finance Trust issued a €500 million 30-year green bond. It decreased its portfolio carbon emissions intensity by 32 per cent since 2019 and has hosted over 25 events to support a more inclusive work environment.

This is its sixth responsible investing report.

DEI plans: The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan partnered with organizations including BlackNorth Initiative, the 30% Club, Catalyst and the Investor Leadership Network to implement “best practices that support a diverse and inclusive environment.”

Emissions goal: Net-zero by 2050, with interim goals of a 45 per cent reduction in GHG emissions by 2025 and a 67 per cent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030.

Scope 1 and 2: The fund emitted 443 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) of Scope 1 emissions and 260 tCO2e of Scope 2 emissions in 2021.

Scope 3: It emitted 384 tCO2e of Scope 3 emissions in 2021. This is a significant drop compared to 2019 (8,714 tCO2e) and 2020 (1,058 tCO2e), driven primarily by a sharp decline in air travel for business purposes.

The total carbon emissions across its portfolio is put at 5,490 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 13 per cent decline compared to 2019.

Certifications: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol to calculate its greenhouse gas emissions, which is also aligned with ISO 14064-1:2018.

Third-party verifiers: It formed a partnership with the Carbon Accounting Financials for portfolio carbon footprint accounting. Its Human Resources & Compensation Committee engaged Hugessen Consulting Inc. to assist in reviewing compensation recommendations to the board.

The fund reviewed its portfolio carbon footprint and operational carbon footprint indicators, using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol from World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF).

Read the full report here.

Geotab

An Oakville, Ont.-based company, Geotab offers web-based analytics derived through IoT and software for vehicle fleet management to improve efficiency. It has over 3 million subscribers for its platform. The 2021 report, which was issued in November 2021, contains data from the company’s 2020 operations.

Strategy and updates: Supporting alternative fuel adoption for its customers, recycling oil and batteries for its cars, training its fleet drivers on fuel-efficient driving, switching to electric vehicles, reducing fleet emissions by tracking carbon dioxide emissions and setting limits on fleet idling and increasing the aerodynamism of its cars to increase fuel efficiency.

Its carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 31.81 per cent from 2019 to 2020. This drop in emissions can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic with the majority of its global employees transitioning to remote work.

Fostering workplace diversity through implementing bias training and education for recruiters and leaders, and supporting research, community partnerships and cultural awareness through events and activities.

This is the company’s first ESG report.

Emissions goal: Geotab plans to slash its GHG emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2040. The net-zero target is certified by the Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Scope 1 and 2: Geotab emitted 273 tCO2e of Scope 1 GHG emissions and 715 tCO2e of Scope 2 GHG emissions in 2020. It beat its GHG emissions targets of 322 tCO2e of Scope 1 emissions and 766 tCO2e of Scope 2 emissions.

Scope 3: The company emitted 28,319 tCO2e of Scope 3 GHG emissions in 2020. It beat its expectations for 39,889 tCO2e of Scope 3 GHG emissions.

Certifications: Each GO vehicle tracking device is certified for: Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS); Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE); and Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).

Third-party verifiers: Geotab was verified by EcoVadis for integration of the principles of sustainability and corporate social responsibility into its business, supply chains and management systems.

Read the full report here.

Nuvei

Nuvei is a Montreal-based payments processor. It set a record as the biggest-ever initial price offering for a technology company on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2020 with a $700 million fundraise.

ESG strategy: Examining ESG factors common to rating agencies and frameworks like the UN Sustainable Development Goals, exploring an alignment to the Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures and reviewing Nuvei shareholders’ ESG investment and proxy voting priorities.

Nuvei says it will develop an ESG strategy over 2022, along with its internal goals and expectations.

The company led an initiative to plant 22,546 trees in 2021.

The 2021 report is Nuvei’s first ESG report.

DEI plans: Develop programs aimed at attracting women to technological and leadership roles within the company.

Emissions goal: N/A

Nuvei did not publish its emissions goal. It does make mention of commitments for some of its data centre processors to reach 100 per cent renewable energy use, water positivity and climate neutrality with expected “significant” reductions in carbon emissions and water consumption by 2025 and 2030, respectively.

Scope 1 and 2: Not available. It will assess its Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2022 to use as a baseline for its future operations.

Scope 3: N/A.

Certifications: BOMA BEST Platinum and LEED Platinum for its head office in Montreal; LEED Gold for its Tel Aviv office; ENERGY Star for its Arizona office. ISO 27001 and NIST 800-39 for information security.

Third-party verifiers: Unnamed third-party verifiers for information security compliance and risk management.

Read the full report here.