The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board more than quadrupled its holdings in Tesla stock even as share values fluctuated and cabinet suspended its electric car rebate program.Pension managers said they had a “focus on climate change.”The board in its Annual Report to pensioners on Wednesday said in the past year, it expanded its purchase of Tesla Inc. stock from 618,000 to 2.9 million shares, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.Pensioners had $1.07 billion in the company as of March 31.Tesla has reported a 20% decline in revenue year-over-year. Shares in Nasdaq trading in the past year ranged from a high of US$480 to as little as $222..Pension investments in Tesla grew even as cabinet on January 10 suspended a $5,000 federal rebate program for new electric car buyers.The Government of British Columbia on May 15 suspended its $4,000 Go Electric Vehicle Rebate program after 14 years. Further, President Donald Trump on January 20 issued an executive order, “unleashing American energy,” to abolish the United States’ electric car mandate.John Graham, CEO of the CPP Investment Board, in his first and only appearance at a parliamentary hearing told the Commons Finance Committee in 2022 he was committed to fighting climate change.“For us this is something that’s very important,” he said.“We appointed our first chief sustainability officer who is now responsible for integrating an enterprise-wide approach to sustainable investing with a focus on climate change,” testified Graham.“This follows our commitment that our investment portfolio will be net zero for greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As an initial step we will boost our investment in green and transition assets to roughly twice their current level by 2030.”.Cabinet has mandated that zero-emission models must account for a minimum 20% of new vehicle sales by 2026, rising to 60% by 2030 — and 100% by 2035.Automakers and dealers have sought repeal of the mandate since rebate programs were suspended.“It should be obvious to everyone now that provincial and federally mandated zero-emission vehicle sales targets are no longer ambitious but a complete fantasy,” Brian Kingston, CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, told reporters January 14.“There is no pathway to 100% zero-emission vehicle sales in the next 10 years without the supports being provided to Canadians. Dictating what vehicles Canadians can and cannot buy without providing them with the supports necessary to switch to electric is a made-in-Canada policy failure.”.Due to a high level of spam content being posted in our comment section below, all comments undergo manual approval by a staff member during regular business hours (Monday - Friday). Your patience is appreciated.
