A report by climate advocacy groups says private equity giant Brookfield Corp. is substantially under-reporting its carbon emissions, even as Mark Carney, head of transition investing at the firm, emphasizes the importance of increased disclosures. Carney speaks during the Canada 2020 Net-Zero Leadership Summit in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
TORONTO – Advocacy groups say Brookfield Corp. is substantially under-reporting its carbon emissions, even as the firm’s head of transition investing Mark Carney emphasizes the importance of increased disclosures
The report by the group Investors for Paris Compliance, citing data from Private Equity Climate Risks, says the investments of Canada’s largest private equity investor emit over 13 times more than what Brookfield discloses in its most recent sustainability report.
The discrepancies come in part because Brookfield doesn’t count the emissions linked to Oaktree Capital Management, in which it acquired a majority stake in 2019.
The report says Oaktree’s holdings, especially in oil and gas, make up about half of the unreported emissions, while Brookfield also doesn’t report some emissions related to companies that it doesn’t have a controlling stake in, or that is emitted by end users.
Brookfield says the report cites emissions data that are based on unclear inputs and uses an opaque methodology that appears to run counter to standard global reporting requirements. It also says the report misconstrues the firm’s corporate structure and presents emissions data in a manner that lacks context, making it susceptible to significant inaccuracies.
Investors for Paris Compliance says that the firm would build more confidence in its net zero commitments if it were to expand its own emission reporting into the areas highlighted by the report, along with increase other efforts such as excluding investments in oil and gas expansion.
Carney said in an October interview with Bloomberg that lowering a company’s carbon footprint is a fundamental driver of market value, and that such measurements are becoming increasingly clear.
“The information about what your carbon footprint is today, where it’s going, is exploding, so you can tell who’s part of the solution, and who’s part of the problem.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2023.
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