Canada. CDPQ Real Estate arm ties staff pay to ESG goals in zero emissions push

Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate arm of Canada’s second-largest pension fund, has tied employee and executive remuneration to hitting environmental targets as it commits to cut net carbon emissions to zero by 2040, its CEO said on Tuesday.

Chief Executive Officer Nathalie Palladitcheff said Ivanhoe, which owns 1,100 properties globally, will add C$6 billion ($4.8 billion) in low carbon investments and, as an interim target, reduce carbon intensity by 35% by 2025.

Since January, employee pay at Ivanhoe, including all its executives, has been directly tied to emissions reduction targets, Palladitcheff said.

“The cherry on the cake has got to be the remuneration,” Palladitcheff told Reuters. “If you incentivize the partners on this criteria, (we’re) pretty sure it’s going to happen.”

Ivanhoe, owned by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, currently has 15 employees on its sustainability team and expects to hire more by the end of the year.

Around 50% of Ivanhoe’s buildings already meet its 2025 emissions intensity target, which the company said will help it perform well in future years.

Adam Scott, director of non-profit organization Shift, which monitors Canada’s biggest pensions funds, said some of Ivanhoe’s peers have not disclosed any environmental-linked compensation schemes.

Read more @Reuters

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