Our Climate Action Plan
Our plan builds upon more than 20 years of climate action and affirms our commitment to supporting the global goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. It outlines the actions we are taking to support this goal, aligned with creating and preserving financial value for our clients through the uncertainty of the climate transition.
Climate Action in Our Investments
At the time of our investment in BMS Group, an independent specialty insurance and reinsurance broker, our ESG assessment highlighted climate change as a potential source of value creation. Alongside other investors and board members, BCI supported BMS in better defining its ESG strategy, leading the company to calculate and take action to reduce its carbon footprint. BMS has begun offsetting emissions through projects like ecosystem conservation and renewable energy with a focus on reducing operational emissions.
Caddo Sustainable Timberlands, LP (CST), the largest private timberland owner in Texas, U.S., is committed to applying sustainable forest management practices. CST announced that it entered into an agreement to begin evaluating the potential development of a carbon capture and storage project on approximately 27,000 acres of its Texas timberlands. BCI and our co-investors worked closely with CST to evaluate this opportunity which could deliver significant climate and environmental benefit.
BCI acquired Reden Solar with investment partners, marking the first direct investment in solar energy in our infrastructure & renewable resources program. Reden Solar develops, finances, builds, and operates solar power plants across Europe and Latin America with roughly a one gigawatt operating portfolio and a 15 gigawatt development pipeline.
Climate Action 100+ is the largest investor-led engagement initiative on climate change. It engages with 167 companies representing more than 80 per cent of global industrial GHG emissions. BCI leads or co-leads engagements with four North American companies in the oil and gas and mining industries, and supports engagements with six other target companies.
Climate-related Disclosure
As a signatory of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), BCI has been measuring and reporting the carbon footprint of our public equities’ portfolio since 2017, demonstrating the total carbon emissions of the portfolio normalized by the market value. BCI has since started measuring the carbon footprint across all asset classes, including fixed income, real estate, and private markets.
Our most recent TCFD report is included in our 2022-2023 Corporate Annual Report.
Collaboration on Climate Action
BCI is a signatory of CDP’s climate change, water, and forests programs, and became a signatory to the Science-Based Targets Campaign in 2022. CDP runs a global environmental disclosure system that over 18,000 companies report through, which BCI uses to inform ESG reviews and engagement activities.
BCI joined Asia Research & Engagement (ARE) which brings together investors to collaborate with senior business decision makers, and became a member of its Asia Transition Platform. The platform plans to engage with at least 50 Asian companies in three years on climate change, including financial institutions and power companies.
Canadian Investor Statement on Climate Change
BCI and 35 other institutional investors managing $5.5 trillion called on companies to act on material climate risks. The signatories also commit to disclosing their financed emissions and setting the expectation that investment companies will establish emissions targets and report on progress.
Sustainable Finance Action Council
Jennifer Coulson, senior managing director & global head, ESG serves as a member of the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Finance Action Council. BCI advises on the foundational market infrastructure needed for a stable and reliable sustainable finance market.
