Ontario health workers get a closer look at HOOPP’s $1.6 billion in oil and gas companies

“I discovered that HOOPP was invested in fossil fuels and was gobsmacked.”

I discovered that HOOPP was invested in fossil fuels and was gobsmacked. I would have assumed that my healthcare pension would be aligned with healthcare values of “do no harm”, not invested in coal and oil and gas.
-Debbie Fletcher-Queen, hospital data administrator and HOOPP member

The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) released a climate plan earlier this year, announcing to its members that the fund was “doing what's good for our pension plan and good for our planet.” But a closer look at HOOPP’s portfolio shows that Ontario’s health sector pension fund holds $1.6 billion in shares in the fossil fuel companies that are primarily responsible for the climate crisis. 

There’s a lot to like in HOOPP’s climate plan, including a commitment to put $23 billion toward green investments by 2030, and to end some fossil fuel finance beginning in 2025.

At a quick glance, HOOPP members might mistakenly assume that HOOPP’s climate plan and net-zero emissions commitment mean that their retirement savings are no longer invested in the coal, oil, gas and pipeline companies whose products are fuelling the climate crisis. But that’s not the case.

Health workers say their retirement savings must not work against a safe climate.

Holding shares in fossil fuel companies doesn’t make sense for your pension or the planet.

As we reach the end of a summer of deadly heat waves, wildfires and flooding, more and more people are drawing the connections between the burning of fossil fuels and the extreme climate impacts we’re experiencing. The events of this summer gave many of us a firsthand encounter with what health practitioners have known for years: climate change is the greatest health crisis we face.

“The nationwide forest fires this June proved that even in Toronto, where I live, we cannot remain immune from climate change.”

The nationwide forest fires this June proved that even in Toronto, where I live, we cannot remain immune from climate change. After cycling for fifteen minutes in the haze surrounding us, I experienced a sore throat for the next two days. We are in a climate emergency. It is outrageous that the pension fund of healthcare workers actively poisons us by investing in fossil fuels. Divest our money NOW so our grandchildren can survive and we don’t feel sick.
- Christie MacCallum, retired family physician and HOOPP member

“Doing what’s good for our pension plan and good for our planet” means investing health workers’ retirement savings in a way that aligns with HOOPP’s net-zero commitment and a safe climate future. 

It’s financially responsible too: the climate crisis is “a potentially existential threat to the economy.” A stable economy and financial system are required in order for HOOPP to pay healthcare workers’ pensions. Fossil fuel investments will become stranded assets as oil and gas companies face economic headwinds from regulation, public opposition, lawsuits, and the declining costs of renewable energy. Over the last ten years, pension funds’ public portfolios would have had stronger returns if oil and gas had been excluded (see the Canadian Pensions Dashboard for Responsible Investing, 2nd edition analysis, page 29).

The fossil fuel companies in HOOPP’s portfolio are not on track for a safe climate future.

The International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are both clear that no investment in new fossil fuel supply is needed on the narrow pathway to climate safety, which requires limiting global temperature increase to 1.5°C. In November 2022, a United Nations expert group concluded that “Net zero is entirely incompatible with continued investment in fossil fuels.”

Shift examined the fossil fuel companies in HOOPP’s portfolio using a simple test: are these companies acting in line with a safe climate? Or are they continuing to explore for and develop new fossil fuel assets? Does the company’s future success depend on climate failure?

We found that the oil and gas companies in HOOPP’s portfolio openly tout their expansion of fossil fuel production or their reliance on its continued expansion to generate profits.

These companies are investing in expanding and prolonging the use of fossil fuels, which is incompatible with a safe climate future for healthcare workers to retire into.

Oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, in which HOOPP holds $139 million in shares, says it is “investing more money to grow oil and gas production than any other U.S. company." 

Devon Energy ($58 million of shares in HOOPP’s portfolio) says it is “a leading independent energy company engaged in finding and producing oil and natural gas... The company's assets... provide a deep inventory of opportunities." 

PDC Energy ($18 million for HOOPP) “is an independent exploration and production company focused on responsible development of natural resources in some of the most prolific oil and gas regions in the United States."

You can see the full list of HOOPP’s fossil fuel holdings as of June 30, 2023, along with statements from these companies’ websites, here.

Do you want your retirement savings invested in high risk fossil fuel companies that can’t align their business with a safe climate?

Health sector workers in Ontario are adding their names to an open letter asking HOOPP to take the next step in its climate strategy and phase out all investments in fossil fuels.

“HOOPP’s climate plan acknowledged the interconnections between fossil fuels, the climate crisis, and human health. Now HOOPP must exclude all fossil fuel investments, including gas, in order to protect my pension and our climate.”
- Andrew Han, hospital pharmacist and HOOPP member

“HOOPP must exclude all fossil fuel investments, including gas, in order to protect my pension and our climate.”