SUPPORTING STATEMENT: According to an online survey conducted by Léger Marketing and the Association for Canadian Studies for
The Canadian Press in October 2022, 70% of Canadians are concerned or very concerned about climate
change. The high percentage of votes in favor of our shareholder proposal last year reflects this concern in
the country. This vote surely reflects the concern of the company’s shareholders about the scope of its
environmental initiatives. The recent forest fires and floods of the past year are far from alleviating these
concerns, and it is safe to assume that they will become even more acute.
A recent report by Oxfam Québec(1) on the carbon footprint of Canadian bank portfolios across the country
calls on shareholders to be more demanding about the efforts devoted to it. One of the observations made in
the report is worth noting:
“not only have none of Canada’s major [banks] committed to withdrawing from the fossil fuel sector in
the short or medium term, but they all persist in presenting themselves as participants in the energy
transition and sustainable financing aimed at either decarbonizing the processes of extraction,
transformation and/or use of fossil fuels or supporting diversification of the “green” asset portfolios of
companies in the sector, particularly in the areas of green technologies and renewable energy”.
This report even calls their initiatives as relatively unambitious:
“the total C$850 billion pledged by BMO, RBC, Scotiabank, CIBC and TD for 2020-2030, while not
inconsiderable, will ultimately represent only two-thirds of their previously committed fossil fuel assets
between 2016 and 2020 alone, which were in excess of C$1.3 trillion.”
We have little time left to clean up our environment and leave future generations a better place to live. That’s
why it’s important for shareholders to be able to express their opinion on the scope of the actions our
organizations wish to take over the next few years, and to stimulate greater proactivity.
In France, a draft legislation(2) concerning say on climate would require all publicly listed companies to submit
their “climate and sustainability” strategy to their shareholders every three years or in the event of a material
change.