The 4 allege in a lawsuit filed Monday within the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that the Canada Pension Plan’s investment manager breached its duty to take a position of their best interests and exposed their contributions to unreasonable risk of loss through its approach. “I don’t want to sue my pension provider, but I want to retire with a stable pension and start a future worth living,” said 20-year-old Aliya Hirji, considered one of the 4 plaintiffs, at a news conference in Toronto.
CPP is facing a lawsuit over ties to fossil fuels
The lawsuit, filed with support from Ecojustice and Goldblatt Partners LLP, alleges that CPP Investments is dramatically underestimating the financial impact of climate change and exacerbating its harms by continuing to take a position in expanding fossil fuel production.
Karine Peloffy, lawyer and head of sustainable finance at Ecojustice, said the lawsuit was a legal test of how the fund should cope with climate risks given its commitments. “It is the first time in a court that future beneficiaries argue that one of the largest investors is violating its duty of intergenerational fairness,” Peloffy said.
Michel Leduc, spokesman for CPP Investments, said the fund would resolve the matter in court if mandatory, but that it takes a rigorous approach to incorporating climate risk as considered one of many key aspects it considers. “We remain focused on integrating climate considerations into our investment activities,” he said.
CPP drops net zero goal but defends approach
The lawsuit comes after CPP Investments quietly abandoned its net-zero carbon emissions goal by 2050 earlier this 12 months. However, Leduc said the change in language didn’t change the fund’s give attention to climate change. He said climate risk is considered one of many risk areas the fund must manage when investing to maximise long-term investment returns without excessive risk.
Leduc said the fund will resist efforts that it believes would limit its ability to fulfill those obligations. “A lawsuit against CPP Investments and our efforts to maintain the sustainability of the Canada Pension Plan is a lawsuit against the retirement savings of 22 million Canadians,” Leduc said.
Travis Olson, one other plaintiff, said Monday that he doesn’t consider he’s meeting those obligations in managing investments that the fund will sooner or later depend on to pay its retirement advantages.
“My pension manager’s practices are inconsistent with the economically stable, climate-safe future that my generation is committed to,” said Olson, 22. “I look forward to the day our pension trustees stop betting against the world my generation will inherit, and until they do so voluntarily, we call on the courts to step in and protect our contributions.”
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