The OTPP’s move to join a consortium purchasing a $10.1 billion, 49 per cent stake in the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s fossil gas pipeline network is the largest fossil fuel infrastructure transaction in the world in 2020. It exposes the pension savings of thousands of Ontario teachers to climate-related financial risk. It undermines global action to address the climate crisis by locking in polluting infrastructure for decades to come. And it contradicts the OTPP’s own commitments to align its portfolio with a safe climate.
Investments like the OTPP’s in fossil fuel infrastructure are betting the hard-earned retirement savings of thousands of Ontario teachers against the long-term safety of our climate.
Ensuring the growth of pensions in the long-term requires ending investments that lock-in fossil fuels and redeploying massive pools of finance into climate solutions like renewable energy and clean technology.