British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI)

In terms of female representation in leadership positions, BCI has a gender-balanced board of directors where 3 out of 7 members are women. The financial institution has an ESG strategy where it describes its engagement approach on sustainability themes and impact topics with investees and how the engagement policy is applied in practice. Furthermore, it publishes case studies describing where it has engaged successfully with investees on sustainability themes and impact topics. The financial institution discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member including sustainability- and non-sustainability-related organisations. It also discloses the positions it takes in its lobbying and political engagement activities on sustainability themes.

BCI discloses that alignment with the Paris Agreement is one of its engagement topics with investees. As a member of Climate Action 100+, the financial institution discloses that it collectively engages with its investees on the topic of climate change.

BCI has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers and external stakeholders to raise human rights complaints as well as bribery and corruption concerns. The financial institution has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. Furthermore, the financial institution has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and specifies that it does not make political contributions.

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, BCI could assign the responsibility for sustainability to the group’s board and link the remuneration of its executive or management teams to sustainability performance criteria. No evidence was found that the financial institution is committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Additionally, BCI has an opportunity to reach at least 40% female representation in senior leadership positions. The financial institution could include clear frameworks with success criteria and escalation points in its engagement policy.

BCI has an opportunity to disclose a target to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050. The financial institution also has an opportunity to require its investees to align their with the Paris Agreement. While BCI discloses its participation in sustainable bonds, it could disclose the amount of its investment devoted to climate solutions. Furthermore, no evidence was found regarding the financial institution’s approach to fossil fuels that spans across the fossil fuel value chain and its assets under management, such as the amount or share of investment it directs towards fuels, or its stance on investing in companies with new fossil fuel projects. Regarding nature and biodiversity, no evidence was found that the financial institution is committed to minimising its negative impacts or financing regenerative solutions.

There is no evidence that BCI has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights laid out in the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) and the ILO declaration on fundamental rights at work. The financial institution has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities. It also has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group, gender or another indicator of diversity. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, the financial institution has an opportunity to disclose the amount of investment directed towards low-income developing countries.