The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board has unveiled its 2026–2030 climate strategy, setting out plans to strengthen climate resilience, capture investment opportunities linked to the energy transition and increase its real-world impact.
Central to the strategy is a target to hold $70 billion in Climate Transition Aligned (CTA) assets in private markets by 2030. The target represents an ambition to nearly double its CTA holdings over the next five years and includes investments in companies decarbonising their operations and those enabling the global energy transition.
“Our mission is to deliver retirement security for our members, and that includes effectively addressing material long-term opportunities and risks that come with climate change and the energy transition,” said Jo Taylor, President and CEO. “Our climate strategy recognises that the world’s shift to cleaner energy is underway and represents a generational investment opportunity that stands to reshape economies. By focusing our ambitions in private investing and active ownership where we have influence, we are positioning the Fund to remain resilient and constructively contribute to the transition through the companies in which we invest.”
The strategy is built around two pillars: investing in climate solutions and accelerating credible transition planning. The first focuses on deploying capital into businesses that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions, manage climate-related risks, or enable and scale climate solutions. The second centres on working with portfolio companies to advance decarbonisation plans, including identifying emissions-reduction levers, assessing technology and capital requirements, and preparing for risks and opportunities arising from the energy transition.
Having reduced emissions intensity by around 50% from its 2019 baseline, the pension fund said it met its 2025 target ahead of schedule. Under the new strategy, it will shift from prioritising emissions intensity as a primary metric to measuring investments aligned with a net-zero future and real-world transition outcomes, while continuing to focus on decarbonisation across its portfolio.
“Ontario Teachers’ has long believed in the importance of addressing climate opportunities and risks as part of our focus on delivering long-term returns that sustain pensions,” said Anna Murray, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainable Investing. “Our climate strategy reflects an impactful and pragmatic evolution that builds on our progress and learnings to date and leans into our strengths as a private investor. Accelerating the global energy transition will require a significant role for private capital, and we are pleased to set out an ambition that can have a real-world impact through working with our companies to advance transition planning and directing capital toward attractive investments in sectors tangibly enabling the energy transition.”
The fund said it remains committed to supporting the global goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and plans for its portfolio to be primarily invested in CTA-aligned or low-emissions assets by that date.
Its CTA Framework, which underpins the strategy, has been reviewed and endorsed by the Climate Bonds Initiative.
“Ontario Teachers’ CTA Framework is an example of what leading investors globally are doing to help deliver a more impactful approach to investing in and accelerating the much-needed energy transition,” said Sean Kidney, CEO and Co-founder of the Climate Bonds Initiative. Ontario Teachers’ said it will report annually on progress towards its 2030 CTA target from its 2026 Annual Report onwards, while continuing to disclose its portfolio carbon footprint. As part of the new approach, it will retire its previously announced 2030 interim emissions intensity target and incorporate related programmes into the CTA Framework.
