Delegates talk as a model of a floating LNG facility vessel is displayed at the booth of Japan's JGC Group during the LNG2023 conference, in Vancouver, on July 11, 2023.Canadian institutional investors are growing impatient that Ottawa has yet to formalize a guidebook for sustainable finance, according to a new survey, with some saying the country risks losing out in the race for green capital.
According to the survey, conducted by Montreal-based consultancy Millani, 21 per cent of institutions would like natural gas to be included, and the same percentage want it excluded. Fifty-eight per cent would be open to keeping the fossil fuel off the list for further study if it means the taxonomy can be put into force.
“In the meantime, what I’ve heard was this growing sentiment from the investor community that we’re losing our competitiveness here as an industry – there’s a very strong frustration in the financial community.” The council, which wrapped up its work earlier this year, has said the taxonomy is important for attracting an annual $115-billion needed to help Canada get to net-zero emissions by 2050. Formalizing the guide would also provide credibility for the country to initiate discussions around the world to promote a common definition of “transition,” the council said.
The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board is in the process of tailoring the first set of corporate sustainability disclosure standards to the domestic economy.between investors demanding detailed comparable data, and companies and industry associations complaining some factors are still too uncertain and implementation too burdensome. That included reporting Scope 3 emissions, which stem from transport and end use of products.