(Toronto) Even as two of Canada’s largest insurers take steps to promote climate action, they still have a long way to go, an environmental advocacy group says in a new report.
According to the document produced by the Investors for Paris Compliance group, climate action by Sun Life Financial and Manulife Financial is important, as the two companies are the first and fourth largest investors in fossil fuels in Canada (a category distinct from the banking sector).
Second annual assessment report says Sun Life began disclosing some funded emissions this year, but still lacks a comprehensive policy on phasing out investments in fossil fuels, including coal .
Sun Life invested a total of $11.6 billion in coal and $12.7 billion in oil and natural gas last year, according to data from the Investing in Climate Chaos coalition.
The insurer explained in a statement that it was committed to collaborating to help solve the climate challenge and had established a climate team to track and measure its performance, among other initiatives.
The report further states that Manulife Financial made progress in formalizing coal exclusion policies last year, including not investing in new thermal coal projects globally and setting targets intermediaries.
It notes, however, that while both insurers have started to disclose some funded emissions, they are still excluding a significant portion of their overall assets under management from disclosure and are not providing details on how they intend to achieve their zero emissions target. net by 2050.
Manulife, which the report said invested US$5.1 billion in coal and US$6.7 billion in oil and natural gas last year, declined to comment on the report but highlighted its many climate goals , including interim emissions investment targets for 2027.
