Big Foreign Shareholders Control Climate Policy in Canada’s Biggest Fossil Companies: Study

A small subset of predominantly foreign, corporate owners hold substantial control over Canada’s oil and gas industry, and are unlikely to push for carbon cuts unless mandated to do so, a new study concludes.

That means it’s up to Canadian policy-makers to introduce new rules that compel big investors to actively support the low-carbon transition, say the authors of the study, A voice for change? Capital markets as a key leverage point in Canada’s fossil fuel industry https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629623002499

“A few large shareholders stand to gain substantially through monetizing the destruction of the world’s climate and will continue to engage with the industry in a manner that contradicts effective climate solutions,” the researchers write. “However, capital can also be used to reshape society if the power is regulated accordingly by financial supervisors.”

So far, the Canadian government has been a “leader and a laggard” in the transition to a low-carbon economy, say the authors. Despite ambitious emissions targets, they maintain, Ottawa continues to allow—and support—oil and gas production and expansion. |Read more https://www.theenergymix.com/2023/08/01/big-foreign-shareholders-control-climate-policy-in-canadas-biggest-fossil-companies-study/|

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