CALGARY, Alberta - Major investors are pushing Canadian companies for more disclosure on greenhouse gas emissions to gauge the financial risks, but have yet to start avoiding stocks due to poor public information, a top pension fund chief said Monday.
An increasing number of long-term investors are concerned public companies face a host of risks, from physical to economic, as global warming accelerates and governments impose more stringent emission regulations, said Doug Pearce, chief executive of British Columbia Investment Management Corp., Canada's fourth-largest institutional investor.
But disclosure practices are in their infancy in Canada, are far from standardized and investors are taking a go-slow approach to pressing for more and better data, Pearce said.
"We've got to get the message out there, and what government has to do is be very clear on guidance," Pearce said after speaking at a seminar on carbon disclosure.
"But give companies a couple more years, and give investors time to work with those companies. It's a huge, complex issue, if you're looking at what your total greenhouse gases are: what is the risk to the business 20 years out?"
Speakers at the seminar, hosted by the Conference Board of Canada, discussed the findings of a survey of 280 Canadian companies and their disclosure of emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the gases blamed for global warming.
The survey was conducted on behalf of 225 investors managing assets of US$31 trillion, the organizers said. Such polls are in their fourth year worldwide, but the report was a first for corporate Canada.
Pearce, whose organization manages C$78 billion (US$69 billion) in assets for public-sector pension plans, said investors involved in the Carbon Disclosure Project are not "naming and shaming" firms that do not answer their questionnaire or provide insufficient data.
"I think we'll engage with those companies on a private basis, and say, 'Look, these are issues you've got to think about.' But you don't want to put them off right away."
Earlier this month, Canada's Conservative government proposed legislation to cap emissions of greenhouse gases by major polluters, but with long timelines that environmentalists have said are not stringent enough to fight the problem of climate change.
On Monday, a report by Nicholas Stern, the World Bank's former chief economist, said global climate change could cost US$7 trillion in lost output unless governments take drastic action to cut emissions.
Pearce said he did not want to comment on the possible effectiveness of Ottawa's Clean Air Act, but said he believes most business executives now see global warming and regulation as growing risks to their operations.
He said it was too early to say if the Canadian version of the Carbon Disclosure Project was a success, but he described it as "a good first step."
(US$1=$1.13 Canadian)
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
