Desjardins group advocates for the responsible investment

Diane Tremblay

Monday, 12 march, 2018 20:53

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Monday, 12 march, 2018 20:53

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The cumulative volume of investment and financing of projects in renewable energies, carried out by Desjardins, reached $ 2.15 billion.

Even if the fight to climate change has been identified as the environmental priority, the cooperative continues to encourage the fossil fuel sector.

The lifting of the moratorium on the funding of pipeline projects at the end of 2017 has, however, been accompanied by the introduction of new factors for analysis. “We have put in place a moratorium on the issue of oil sands the time to adopt our position. As soon as we put an end to the moratorium, it has been replaced by the integration of ESG factors, which becomes a new reference framework for our managers, ” said Pauline D’amboise, secretary general and vice-president, governance and sustainable development for Desjardins.

New filters

In addition to the traditional methods, the analysis of the records now passes through the new filters on the issues of environmental, social and governance (ESG). For the moment, a quarantine of investment managers dedicated to the very large company in Quebec have been trained to respond to the new settings.

“After that, it is necessary to go to the average company. The goal is to do so gradually forming the people to broaden the spectrum of analysis of the files “, she said.

Is it that companies that do not have a sustainable development plan will be automatically penalized ?

“A company that will have a plan that will put the winning conditions for obtaining financing. We work globally with analysis tools and guidance and outreach, ” replied Ms. D’amboise, who participates Tuesday in the Lounge of environmental technologies presented in Quebec.

Desjardins promotes responsible investment by excluding from its portfolio investment companies that derive revenue of industries in the nuclear, tobacco and weapons.