Investor-led collaborative engagement initiative Climate Engagement Canada’s (CEC) new Net Zero Benchmark will assess carbon intensive Canadian companies on their progress against climate goals to increase alignment with the Paris Agreement. Although closely aligned with the Net Zero Benchmark developed by Climate Action 100+ (CA100+), the CEC iteration has also layered in “additional context specific to Canada’s unique economy”, which was developed by the CEC Technical Committee and SHARE and incorporated feedback from a public consultation period with multi-stakeholders. The CEC plans to publish evaluations of all the benchmark’s focus companies, highlighting areas of strength and areas for further improvement, later this year. Barbara Zvan, President and CEO of Canada’s University Pension Plan (UPP) and CEC Steering Committee Chair, said: “With the Net Zero Benchmark, CEC continues to push the standard for collaborative stakeholder engagement. The benchmark will provide participating investors with a collective view of key engagement developments and themes in the Canadian context, which helps inform focused and consistent dialogue between Canadian companies and investors. It is a much-needed tool along the path towards a net zero economy.” The CEC Net Zero Benchmark follows the publication of Canada’s draft transition taxonomy earlier this year.
