Indeed, last fall, Oxfam-Québec published a report on the carbon footprint of Canada's banks and major deposit-taking institutions.
We realized that, if they were a sovereign country, they would be the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, not just because of their day‑to‑day activities or energy sources, but because of the emissions they finance. This would place them behind the USA, China, India and Russia.
We're asking the federal government to take the lead and be ambitious about how we regulate the banking sector, since it's not moving forward on its own. We're asking for a little nudge through legislative and regulatory measures that would force financial institutions to be more ambitious and disclose the full carbon footprint of all their portfolios, including their investment portfolio.
We also want Canada, like the European Union, to adopt a green taxonomy that clearly defines terms like “sustainable” and “green” and is transparent to Canadian consumers and savers.
An expert panel examined the issue of sustainable finance in 2019 and made several recommendations, which were not adopted in full. We recommend that they be adopted in their entirety.
There's also a bill before the Senate, Bill S‑243, which is progressing slowly. It's not perfect, but it would be a good start nonetheless.
We also want recognition that polluting investments in polluting industries present a significant financial risk to Canada's economic vitality.