Make HOOPP's Climate Investments Count

HOOPP has promised to invest $23 billion in climate solutions by 2030. That’s good news for your pension and the planet.

HOOPP’s billions must be invested in profitable, proven climate solutions like renewable energy, energy storage and grid electrification-- and not invested in propping up the dying fossil fuel industry through expensive, ineffective, unproven distractions like carbon capture and storage, fossil-fueled hydrogen and carbon offsets.

Tell HOOPP to make its climate investments count!

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More information:

HOOPP has committed to invest $23 billion in climate solutions by 2030, using the Climate Bonds Taxonomy to establish the criteria for its investments. As of December 31, 2023, HOOPP reported $10 billion invested toward this goal.

Health sector workers in Ontario are pleased to see HOOPP’s progress, but want to make sure their pension fund’s future investments don’t include dangerous distractions or false climate solutions that won’t help protect their pension and the planet.

Carbon capture and storage technology has a track record of going over budget, under-delivering on results and providing cover for the oil and gas industry to keep polluting. See, for example, Carbon Capture and Storage: An unproven technology that cannot meet planetary CO2 mitigation needs by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The authoritative International Energy Agency says “excessive expectations and reliance on carbon capture utilization and storage” is not a way to retain the status quo and would require an inconceivable amount of energy and money, while crowding out the deployment of more effective climate solutions.

Hydrogen is energy-intensive to produce, dangerous and expensive to transport, and is not a solution for use in home heating and/or as blended into fossil gas networks. See, for example, Gas companies tell us mixing gas and hydrogen is a climate solution. New research shows it's not from Canada’s National Observer, and the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission’s report on hydrogen heating.

The carbon offset market has not demonstrated that offsets result in permanent and additional removals of carbon emissions. In the majority of cases, carbon offsets have been revealed to be merely greenwashing that allow for continued carbon pollution. Offsets also exacerbate violations of Indigenous rights and problems with land use, food security and biodiversity. See, for example, Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless, analysis shows from The Guardian, and In-depth Q&A: Can ‘carbon offsets’ help to tackle climate change? from Carbon Brief.

Join fellow Ontario health workers and tell HOOPP to make its climate investments count!

This action is hosted by Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health. Learn more about Shift.

Tell HOOPP to invest in proven climate solutions, not dangerous distractions

Your pension fund is planning to invest billions in climate solutions. Let’s make sure HOOPP gets it right!

HOOPP has promised to invest $23 billion in climate solutions by 2030. That’s good news for your pension and the planet.

Tell HOOPP to make its climate investments count.

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Dear [recipient name will go here],

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As a HOOPP member, I'm glad to know that HOOPP has committed to invest $23 billion in climate solutions using the Climate Bonds Taxonomy criteria. This ensures that HOOPP’s investments meet an external standard for demonstrating that they align with a climate-safe future. That’s good for my pension fund and for my retirement security.

As HOOPP starts to scale up its climate solutions investments, my pension fund must beware of investments that miss the mark:

-- Carbon capture and storage technology has a track record of going over budget while under-delivering on emissions reductions. This technology is a dangerous distraction that is being pushed by the oil and gas industry as a way to prolong the use of fossil fuels and delay the transition to renewable energy.

-- Hydrogen is expensive and energy-intensive to produce, and dangerous and inefficient to transport. Fossil-derived hydrogen could even be more damaging for the climate than conventional uses of fossil gas. While green hydrogen may have limited use in decarbonizing some industrial processes, it doesn’t make sense to blend hydrogen into gas pipeline networks or to use hydrogen for home heating.

-- Carbon offsets enable polluters to keep polluting while they make dubious claims about emissions reductions. In most cases, such offsets are greenwashing and don’t result in the permanent and additional removal of carbon from the atmosphere.

HOOPP is working to manage climate-related financial risks through its climate strategy, its climate solutions investment commitment, and its decision to limit new investments in oil and gas. 

Now HOOPP must continue to protect the pensions of Ontario health sector workers by making sure its climate solutions investments are credible; ending any new investment in coal, oil, gas and pipelines; and announcing a timeline for eliminating its exposure to high-risk fossil fuel investments.

Sincerely,
[your name will go here]
[your email address will go here]

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