The target builds on the $887 million in sustainability bonds the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) held at the end of last year. The pension fund also pledged to reduce its carbon exposure by 30 per cent from 2019 levels by 2025. (The Logic)

Talking point: BCI said in a statement Friday that its clients have an interest in seeing the fund reach the green-bond and -emissions targets, given the “growing number of governments, companies, and institutional investors” working toward Paris Agreement objectives. The pension fund gave little details on how it plans to substantially drop carbon emissions in less than four years. BCI’s commitment follows more robust targets from pension funds in Ontario and Quebec. While some institutional investors set their own emissions and sustainable-investment targets, many are ramping up pressure on portfolio companies to do their part. Canada’s eight largest pension funds signed a joint letter in November 2020 calling on firms to disclose their environment, social and governance risks. And last month, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink pressed firms to set targets to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.