News

Montreal, April 18, 2023 – BDC today announces the creation of its new $150-million Sustainability Venture Fund dedicated to investing in businesses developing technologies that will support Canada and the world to meet sustainability and climate targets.

The Fund is a key component of BDC’s commitment to sustainability and part of its contribution to help advance Canada’s 2050 net-zero ambition. It will invest in technologies in line with four key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) leveraging Canada’s strengths and areas of opportunity: sustainable communities and cities, responsible production and consumption, climate action as well as clean and affordable energy.

“Innovation is imperative to speed the transition to net-zero, as much as it can spur the growth of our economy. With the new fund, we have an immense opportunity to ensure that Canadian start-ups have access to the capital they need to compete and drive meaningful impact to Canada’s journey to reach net-zero and meet its sustainability targets.” ~ Isabelle Hudon, President and CEO of BDC

Read the full article here.

New study from Bain & Company and EcoVadis

ESG activities, regarding sustainability, diversity and employee satisfaction, correlate with stronger financial profitability and growth for private companies, revealed a joint study by Bain & Company and EcoVadis released today.

Four correlations between ESG activities and business results:

1. Companies with more women on the executive team have better financial results.
2. Renewable energy usage correlates with higher EBITDA margins in carbon-intensive industries.
3. Companies that focus on ethics, environmental and labor practices within their supply chains are more profitable.
4. ESG leaders have higher employee satisfaction; companies with the most satisfied employees grow faster and are more profitable.

Read the full article here.

L’Oréal Announcement

Beauty company L’Oréal announced the introduction of its Product Impact Labeling system in Canada, providing consumers with information on the environmental and social impact of its products.

According to the company, its Garnier, La Roche-Posay and Biotherm brands will be the first to launch the Product Impact Labelling System in Canada, with the information available on their websites starting this month, and gradually displayed on the products through a QR code, and plans to roll out the system progressively across the L’Oréal Canada brands.

Read the full article here.

Canada unveiled its response to the emerging global race to scale up green energy and clean tech manufacturing capacity, with proposals for over $60 billion in tax credits and an additional $20 billion in sustainable infrastructure investments in its 2023 budget.

While the budget acknowledges the opportunities created for Canada by the Inflation Reduction Act, arising from “the accelerated pace of technological development, and from new opportunities in North American supply chains for clean energy and technologies,” the budget also points out the need for Canada to respond in order to remain competitive in the global transition, noting that:

“(W)ithout swift action, the sheer scale of U.S. incentives will undermine Canada’s ability to attract the investments needed to establish Canada as a leader in the growing and highly competitive global clean economy.

“If Canada does not keep pace, we will be left behind.”

Read the full article here.

A liveable future for all is possible, if we take urgent climate action: flagship UN report.

A major UN “report of reports” from the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), outlines the many options that can be taken now, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change.

The study, “Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report”, released on Monday following a week-long IPCC session in Interlaken, brings into sharp focus the losses and damages experienced now, and expected to continue into the future, which are hitting the most vulnerable people and ecosystems especially hard

Read the full article here.

UN Photo / Mark Garten

BlackRock's Larry Fink says “not our place to be telling companies what to do” on climate, and more...

Investment giant BlackRock will continue to view climate risk as an investment risk, according to the firm’s Chairman and CEO Larry Fink’s annual letter to investors released today, that addressed a series of claims by anti-ESG politicians, such as accusations that BlackRock forces companies to reduce emissions, or that the firm “boycotts” energy companies.

Read the full article here.

OSFI Announcement

Canada’s financial regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), announced the release of its new guidelines on climate risk management, setting out requirements for banks and insurance companies to manage and disclose climate-related risks.

The new climate-related reporting requirements for Canadian financial institutions cover disclosure categories including governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics & targets. They also include reporting of Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, including financed, facilitated and insured emissions, as well as the targets used to manage climate-related risks and opportunities, and public commitments made as part of a Net Zero alliance, such as the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), or the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA).

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The IFRS's International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) website has a variety of articles that can be sorted by topics, including Sustainability.

View the ISSB news page.

2023 Canadian ESG Reporting Insights from PwC Canada

PwC Canada reports over 70 per cent of the country’s 250 largest public companies do not obtain external assurance for their environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports, nor do they disclose climate-related financial information.

In conclusion, it finds they are making slow progress on corporate sustainability reporting.

Read the full article here.