Queen鈥檚 commits to reduce carbon footprint of university鈥檚 investment portfolios by 2030

Queen鈥檚 commits to reduce carbon footprint of university鈥檚 investment portfolios by 2030

Strategy calls to maintain significantly lower emissions than the global benchmark and drive meaningful change.

By Communications Staff

March 9, 2022

Share

成人大片 and Grant Hall

In line with Queen鈥檚 commitment to make a real and lasting impact in the fight against climate change, Queen鈥檚 Board of Trustees has endorsed its Investment Committee鈥檚 Final Report on , which includes a commitment to lower the carbon footprint across the university鈥檚 investment portfolios.

The Investment Committee set targets to maintain at least 25 per cent lower carbon emissions than the global equities benchmark by the year 2030.

鈥淨ueen鈥檚 University is deeply committed to making a global impact in advancing sustainability through its responsible investing,鈥 says Jim Keohane, Chair of the Investment Committee. 鈥淲e are aligned with students, faculty, staff and the administration in engaging on this issue. The recommendations we have brought forward will have a lasting positive impact on Queen鈥檚 and our planet.鈥

The targets set out in the recommendations are impactful and designed to align Queen鈥檚 with Canada鈥檚 net zero commitments. With a target of at least 25 per cent below the broader global market鈥檚 emissions, the university will decarbonize its portfolios ahead of the market and without singling out specific industries. The benchmark target reduction approach is aligned with those taken by many large best-in-class institutional investors.

鈥淲e will work closely alongside our investment managers to drive carbon reduction with all companies within our portfolios,鈥 Keohane says. 鈥淲e will ask a lot of our investment managers and we will be tough markers to effect real change.鈥

鈥淲e have recommended a holistic, collaborative and comprehensive approach to the de-carbonization of our investment portfolios because we believe it is the most effective approach, and simply the right thing to do,鈥 says Don Raymond, who chaired both the CCATF and the Energy Transition Subcommittee that was tasked to look at how to implement the recommendations.

This approach will allow the funds to achieve strong, sustainable returns while enabling the university to do its part in working with other responsible shareholders to influence the companies in which it is invested to also decarbonize. The University Board and administration have listened to student input and reflected this in their decisions and actions.

鈥淲e believe the recommendations put forward and approved by the Board are a significant step for the University to be taking,鈥 says Aria Goldin, Co-President, Queen鈥檚 Backing Action on Climate Crisis, a climate change activism organization run by Queen鈥檚 students. 鈥淲e look forward to working with University Investment leadership to provide our input on the progress of these important commitments.鈥

The recommendations are notable in Queen鈥檚 broader strategy to tackle climate change, supporting Queen鈥檚 overall commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The Board of Trustees approved the following three key recommendations of the CCATF :

  1. Reduce the carbon footprint of the Pooled Endowment Fund (PEF) and Pooled Investment Fund (PIF) and sustain by the end of 2030 a public equity portfolio (and real assets and private equity where data are available) with 25 per cent lower carbon emissions than the equities benchmark.
  2. Allocate at least 15 per cent of the PEF to a Queen鈥檚 Climate Action Allocation (QCAA) by the end of 2030, comprising investments across asset classes that are expected to outperform with the transition to a lower carbon economy. In taking this targeted allocation approach, the committee no longer recommends including the previously planned donor direction program.
  3. Queen鈥檚 should become a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment ().

A key to achieving the targets set out in the plan is the establishment of a Queen鈥檚 Climate Action Allocation (QCAA), made up of investments with significantly lower carbon emissions than the equities benchmark. The recommendations target an allocation of at least 15 per cent of the PEF into the QCAA by the end of calendar 2030. The QCAA was kickstarted in December 2020 with a US$30 million investment within the PEF into Pattern Energy, a private wind and solar company with operations in North America and Japan. That investment represents just over three per cent of current PEF assets.

Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane noted the recommendations also complement many of the other initiatives undertaken by the university, including the commitments expressed in Investing to Address Climate Change: A Charter for Canadian Universities, to which Queen鈥檚 was one of 15 founding signatories in June 2020.

鈥淭his work undertaken by our former Board Chair and the subcommittee will be a lasting legacy,鈥 says Principal Deane. 鈥淭he recommendations signify real action to address our ongoing commitment to combat climate change and have placed Queen鈥檚 at the forefront of investment transparency.鈥

More information on Queen鈥檚 Responsible Investing can be found online.

Today鈥檚 decisions are just one of the ways Queen鈥檚 is advancing sustainability and responding to the world鈥檚 most urgent challenges. For more details on Queen鈥檚 contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals are available here