CEC Net Zero Benchmark

Assessing Canada’s Largest Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emitters on their Net Zero Transition

The Climate Engagement Canada (CEC) Net Zero Benchmark provides a set of common standards for investors to evaluate corporate issuers’ progress towards aligning with the Paris Agreement’s ambition. CEC will be benchmarking its Focus List companies’ commitments and performance along specific criteria. The Benchmark will be useful to CEC Participants when engaging with companies to provide a clear and consistent framework for dialogue and for setting engagement objectives.

Assessing and Enabling Corporate Climate Action

The CEC Net Zero Benchmark provides a set of common standards for investors to evaluate corporate issuers’ progress towards aligning with the Paris Agreement’s ambition: limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. The Benchmark allows CEC Participant Investors to frame, and soon measure, their engagements with Canada’s top emitters, inclusive of corporate issuers. With this framework in place, Participant Investors can identify areas for discussion with CEC Focus List companies and identify areas for additional improvement in their Net Zero transition.

The Development of the CEC Net Zero Benchmark

The CEC Net Zero Benchmark is closely aligned with the Benchmark developed by Climate Action 100+, the current global standard for collaborative shareholder engagement. The CEC Net Zero Benchmark follows this example whilst layering in additional context specific to Canada’s unique economy, developed with the expertise of the CEC Technical Committee and SHARE. It was further refined by incorporating feedback from a consultation period, which involved CEC Participant Investors—including some of Canada’s largest asset managers and asset owners—NGOs, and Indigenous representation.