The Investment Management Corp. of Ontario is revealing interim carbon reduction targets for 2030.
The investment organization is planning to halve its $79 billion portfolio’s scope 1 and scope 2 emissions from 2019 levels by 2030. It’s also aiming for investments in climate solutions to account for 20 per cent of its assets by the same year. These interim goals are designed to help the organization reach its commitment for its portfolio to be carbon neutral by 2050, which was announced last year.
“At IMCO, we believe that the global transition to a net-zero economy will be one of the more powerful investment trends in the coming years. It will create material risks and opportunities for all investors, including our clients,” said Bert Clark, president and chief executive officer of the IMCO, in a press release. “The targets we have set for 2030 reflect our pragmatic approach to helping our clients mitigate the risks and benefit from the opportunities associated with the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
Read: IMCO committing to net-zero emissions in investment portfolios by 2050
To reach its 2030 target, the investment organization will prioritize partnerships with external managers with net-zero commitments. It will also phase out new investment commitments in development of new unabated fossil fuel assets and limit exposure to investments in thermal coal mining and arctic drilling.
“IMCO’s interim targets are built on a number of practices already followed by our investment teams and consistent with all of our investment strategies,” said Rossitsa Stoyanova, chief investment officer of the IMCO, in the release. “We are confident in our ability to achieve these targets, especially as we have already made significant investments in the energy transition. These interim targets will drive and guide investment decisions that both earn returns for our clients and make progress towards a low-carbon economy.”
A statement from Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health suggested the IMCO provide a clearer timeline for its planned phaseout for investing in new fossil fuel assets and clarify whether carbon capture technologies will be used to reach its 2050 targets.
The watchdog organization also noted the strategy doesn’t account for scope 3 emissions. Where scope 1 emissions refer to greenhouse gases released as a result of organizational operations and scope 2 emissions refer to indirect GHGs used to produce energy used in operations, scope 3 emissions is used to describe GHGs indirectly impacted through an organization’s value chain.
“IMCO must measure and report the scope 3 emissions associated with its portfolio, as scope 3 is an essential indicator of climate-related transition risks,” wrote Shift in the statement.
Read: Institutional investors have a fiduciary duty to assess, mitigate climate-related risks