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Aliya Hirji, Travis Olson, Ravneet Singh et Chloe Tse v. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board - application

Filing Year For Action

On October 2025, a group of young Canadians sued the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board alleging the pension fund is mismanaging climate-related financial risks and failing to disclose and properly manage exposure to fossil fuel assets, thereby subjecting pension contributions to undue risk of loss from poorly managed climate risk. The complaint focuses on inadequate climate modeling/disclosure and fiduciary breaches. 

Aliya Hirji, Travis Olson, Ravneet Singh et Chloe Tse v. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Financial support to help individuals manage the effects of unexpected events, securing their livelihoods and increasing the resilience of people and businesses to the changing climate. It’s especially vital in developing regions where everyday risks, climate-related weather extremes, or crop failures can push people into poverty. Without insurance, people may have to resort to selling assets or cutting consumption to cope with losses.

A financial institution that manages a country's currency and can promote climate-related initiatives through green monetary policy and other means.

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

This sector provides communication services, software development, and IT solutions.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth—it includes sea ice, glaciers, snow, and ice sheets. It helps regulate the climate and weather by reflecting sunlight. Rising temperatures are causing melting, leading to sea ice loss, glacier collapse, and glacier landslides and avalanches. This threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people who rely on the cryosphere for food, water security, and cultural practices.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

Financial actors and resources that are primarily directed towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and compensation.

An enterprise or financial institution that is usually majority-owned, backed or significantly controlled by nation-state governments.

Aliya Hirji, Travis Olson, Ravneet Singh et Chloe Tse v. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

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Aliya Hirji, Travis Olson, Ravneet Singh et Chloe Tse v. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

About this case

Documents

Summary

Topics mentioned most in this case Beta

Topics mentioned most in this case
Beta