Canadian Solar

No leading practices were identified for this company.

No leading practices were identified for this company.

No leading practices were identified for this company.

No leading practices were identified for this company.

Canadian Solar has disclosed its scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2020 and scope 3 emissions since 2021. However, the company has not set a long-term target to reduce its emissions, nor has it disclosed its plans to achieve net zero. The company has seen only a moderate decline in its direct emissions intensity between 2017 and 2022 and an increase in absolute emissions. This is in sharp contrast to its 1.5°C pathway, which requires it to reduce its absolute by 4.2% each year.

There is no evidence that Canadian Solar has a low-carbon transition plan. The company should establish a time-bound action plan that outlines how it will transition to a low-carbon economy. This should include medium- and long-term targets, verifiable and quantifiable key performance indicators and financial commitments. Further, the plan should be informed by scenario analysis to ensure that its ambition is sufficient to align with a 1.5°C pathway.

The company’s low-carbon capital expenditure (CapEx) in 2022 accounted for only 7% of its total CapEx. Furthermore, the company does not report information on any patents for low-carbon activities or technologies that it has undertaken during 2017-2022. Additionally, the company does not report sufficient details on interventions it has carried out in the last five years to reduce the life cycle GHG emissions of its low-carbon assets.

While Canadian Solar has started engaging with its suppliers, it needs to be consistent in translating its implemented supplier engagement strategy into concrete actions in order to drive significant GHG emissions reductions. No evidence was found to indicate that Canadian Solar opposes climate-aligned policies. However, the company can increase its credibility by publicly publishing and demonstrating its support for climate policies, such as the Paris Agreement.

Canadian Solar has set targets to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity. The company commits to reducing its emissions intensity by 28% in 2027 compared to 2022. Although the year-on-year reduction is ambitious, the company does not consider a medium and long erm plan to further reduce emissions.

Canadian Solar lacks a formal transition plan, but the company has addressed various aspects of the low-carbon transition. Nevertheless, it can strengthen its efforts by detailing a plan that lays out its short-term and long-term actions alongside its financial commitments to support its transition.

Canadian Solar stands as one of the world’s foremost players in solar technology and renewable energy. As the 7th largest solar panel manufacturer globally, the company not only excels in product manufacturing but also holds a prominent position as a global leader in solar energy and cutting-edge energy storage solutions. Furthermore, Canadian Solar is actively expanding its horizons by delving into the development of expansive solar power plants and innovative battery storage projects.

Canadian Solar has been able to slightly reduce the emissions intensity of the direct emissions from its operations. However, the company has seen an overall increase in absolute emissions between 2019 and 2022.

Although Canadian Solar shows consistency in its emissions reporting, it has not set targets that are ambitious enough to achieve a real low-carbon transition aligned with the 1.5°C scenario.

No evidence was found of the company’s commitment to social dialogue or of the categories of stakeholders the company engages with on a just transition. Furthermore, no evidence was found to demonstrate the company’s ongoing social dialogue and meaningful engagement with affected stakeholders. No evidence was found of the company undertaking low-carbon transition planning to mitigate the social impacts of the transition on workers, affected stakeholders and its business relationships. Additionally, no evidence was found to demonstrate the company’s engagement in social dialogue and with stakeholders in its just transition planning.

No public commitment by the company was found stating its intention to create and support access to green and decent jobs as part of the low-carbon transition. Moreover, no evidence was found of the company’s action to promote these jobs in a way that ensures gender balance and inclusion of vulnerable groups. Additionally, no relevant disclosure was found of the company’s assessment of employment dislocation risks. No public commitment by the company was found stating its intention to re-skill and up-skill workers displaced by the transition to a low-carbon economy. Additionally, no evidence was found that the company reskills and upskills workers in a way that ensures gender balance and inclusion of vulnerable groups.

No relevant disclosure was found to show if the company identifies impacts of the low-carbon transition on social protection for workers and affected stakeholders, nor how it contributes to social protection. Additionally, no evidence was found that the company expects its business relationships to contribute to the social protection of their workers and affected stakeholders. No relevant disclosure was found to show how the company identifies any misalignment of its lobbying activities with policies and regulations that support the just transition, nor of the measures it takes to address misalignment. Furthermore, no evidence was found that the company lobbies for policies and regulations for green and decent job creation; retention, education and reskilling; and social protection for workers.

While the company commits to respecting human rights and the ILO fundamental rights at work, no evidence that it expects its business relationships to respect the ILO fundamental rights at work. No evidence was found of the company’s process to identify, assess and mitigate salient human rights risks in its own operations and supply chain. Moreover, no evidence was found of the company disclosing the stakeholders whose human rights have been affected by its activities. The company does, however, have a grievance mechanism available to workers and external stakeholders.

The company commits to respecting the health and safety of its workers and expects the same commitment of its business relationships. No evidence was found of a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage. While the company discloses the proportion of its direct workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements, no relevant disclosure was found of the company’s required working hours. The company discloses some indicators of workforce diversity, including the gender and race/ethnicity of its workforce by employee category. However, no relevant disclosure was found of additional indicators of workforce diversity. No evidence was found that the company commits to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

No evidence was found that the company commits to protecting personal data and that it has a privacy statement regarding the collection, sharing and access to personal data. Moreover, no relevant disclosure was found of the company’s global tax strategy and the corporate income tax paid for each relevant jurisdiction. The company does have a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, and it includes corresponding clauses in its contracts with business relationships. While the company specifies that it does not make political contributions, no evidence that it has a lobbying and political engagement policy. No relevant disclosure was found of the company’s expenditure on lobbying activities.