The organisation will sell its remaining assets in the oil industry, valued at more than $3bn in line with its new climate strategy

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The production assets of CDPQ are valued at $3.08bn. (Credit: Monika Wrangel from Pixabay)

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has announced that it will fully exit from oil production by the end of next year, as part of its efforts to achieve a net-zero portfolio by 2050.

The Canadian pension fund’s oil production assets are valued at C$3.9bn ($3.08bn).

According to CDPQ, it will be the first Canadian institutional investor to exit oil production assets.

The pension fund said that it will divest its remaining assets in the oil industry, which constitute 1% of its portfolio. This will help it in avoiding contributing to the growth of global oil supply, said CDPQ.

The fund said that it will no longer make investments in oil production as part of its newly launched climate strategy. It will also not invest in the construction of oil pipelines.

Rather, the Canadian institutional investor will concentrate on projects and investment platforms that are exclusively engaged in the transition to a sustainable economy.

CDPQ said that it will also encourage its existing external managers to stop investing in oil production.

CDPQ president and CEO Charles Emond said: “The urgent need to act demands that we do more, faster, and that we innovate. We have to make important decisions on issues such as oil production and decarbonising sectors that are essential to our economies.

“With this new strategy, we are demonstrating our leadership as an investor and enter the next stage of climate investing. We believe this is in the interests of our depositors, our portfolio companies and the communities we invest in.”

As of 30 June 2021, CDPQ’s net assets stood at C$389.7bn ($307.28bn).

Since the implementation of its first climate strategy in 2017, the Canadian organisation is said to have surpassed its targets.

Under the new climate strategy, the organisation aims to have C$54bn ($42.58bn) in green assets by 2025.

By 2030, it aims to achieve a reduction of 60% in the carbon intensity of its total portfolio.

CDPQ has also revealed plans to create a C$10bn ($7.89bn) transition envelope for decarbonising the key industrial carbon-emitting sectors.