From commitment to action: La Caisse publishes its second Stewardship Investing Report

La Caisse today published its second Stewardship Investing Report, which provides an update on actions taken and concrete results it has obtained in 2018 on a variety of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. 

Several initiatives were undertaken over the last year in key areas related to la Caisse’s activities as an investor. With regard to the fight against climate change in particular, la Caisse exceeded its target with the addition of $10 billion in low-carbon assets in 2018, prompting it to raise the target for 2020. In addition, the 10% reduction in carbon emissions for each dollar invested in 2018 is on track to reach the 25% reduction target for 2025.

In addition to climate change, there were several other ESG initiatives in 2018. Notably, la Caisse exercised its leadership, whether in its role as an investor and responsible shareholder or by fostering greater mobilization among its partners and peers. 

Other highlights from the 2018 Stewardship Investing Report

• Investor Leadership Network (ILN): La Caisse took a leadership role in creating a global coalition of institutional investors representing over $6 trillion in assets under management. In the context of the G7, the ILN launched three major initiatives on stewardship investing in 2018 to produce concrete results in 2019. These initiatives cover the areas of diversity, infrastructure and climate change reporting. 
• Governance: In 2018, la Caisse continued to exercise constructive influence in the public companies in which it is a shareholder by voting and directly engaging with many of them. It addressed various topics, including executive compensation, women on the Board of Directors and assessing climate change risk.
• Women in business: La Caisse continued to work on this issue, notably with the launch in Québec of Cheffes de file and continuing the Devenir entrepreneure campaign, two initiatives to strengthen and support women in business and as entrepreneurs.
• International taxation: The report details la Caisse’s actions as an investor and shareholder to promote transparent and responsible tax practices, as well as its commitments in the fight against tax evasion. In 2018, these actions included the creation of a coalition of international peers and the implementation of a tool to assess tax practices.
• Philanthropy: The report provides an overview of la Caisse’s philanthropic activities as well as its employees’ volunteering activities. In 2018, a new area of philanthropic activity to address climate change was added in collaboration with select partners.

Consult the full Stewardship Investing Report