Climate-related risks and opportunities

As a provider of retirement, investment, wealth and protection solutions to individuals and corporate entities,  we believe in business practices that drive long-term value for our customers and clients. This includes managing climate risks and considering material sustainability factors relevant to long-term financial performance in our investment analysis and decision-making.

Lasting value, disciplined choices

We provide our clients and customers with solutions to meet their financial security needs, and we make disciplined choices to deliver on the promises we make to them. To do this, we have a clear strategy, focused execution, and we invest for resilient, long-term risk adjusted returns. 

As our world and customers’ expectations change, we’re adapting to meet their needs in the future. This includes understanding climate-related risks and opportunities. We take climate-related risks into account as part of our risk control framework for our business. 

Our global goals

We’re working more closely than ever with our global group with the aim of maintaining a consistent approach to managing sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

Our global parent, Great-West Lifeco Inc. (Lifeco), established 2030 net zero interim ambitions for its operations and investments. Canada Life Limited supports the pursuit of these ambitions, which are assessed and operate at a Group-wide level (and not an operating entity or divisional level). As such, we support the Group’s ambitions, outlined below  : 

Please see our cautionary statement in respect of the ambitions in footnote 6 below.

Sources:

1. Measured against a 2019 baseline year.
2. Our investment goals for 2030 have been established to reflect the reductions that our investee companies would need to make, to follow the pathways established by the International Energy Agency to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
3. Measured against a 2019 baseline year.
4. Carbon footprint is measured per million dollars invested (tCO2e/$m invested).
5. The following asset classes are currently out-of-scope and excluded from the 37% goal: mortgages, sovereign debt, private debt and equity, and scope 3 emissions of issuers.
6. Forward-looking information includes statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as “will”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “objective”, “target”, “commitment”, “goal”, “ambition” and other similar expressions. Certain forward-looking statements in this section relate to Canada Life Limited’s and Great-West Lifeco Inc.’s (“our”, “Great-West Lifeco” or the “Companies’”) climate-related measures, ambitions, goals, objectives, priorities, strategies and commitments or actions that will be taken to achieve them. The climate-related statements include statements with respect to Great-West Lifeco’s ambition to move towards net-zero Green House Gas (GHG) emissions for its operating and financing activities by 2050, Great-West Lifeco’s initial interim net zero goals and ambitions for operations and investments, Great-West Lifeco’s plan to review and revise initial interim net zero goals and ambitions as appropriate, and the Companies’ approach to identifying and managing climate-related risks and opportunities. The forward-looking information in this section is presented for the purpose of assisting our stakeholders in understanding how we currently intend to address climate-related governance, strategy, risks, opportunities, and objectives, and is not for the purpose of promoting any business or business interest or for other purposes. 
    
   Forward-looking statements are based on expectations, forecasts, estimates, predictions, projections and conclusions about future events that were current at the time of the statements and are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Any goals, objectives, ambitions, commitments or targets discussed here, including but not limited to Great-West Lifeco’s net-zero related goals and ambitions (including interim net zero goals and ambitions), are aspirational. They may need to change or be recalibrated as data improves and as climate science, regulatory requirements and market practices regarding standards, methodologies, metrics and measurements evolve. Our climate risk analysis and net-zero strategic ambitions remain under development, and the data underlying our analysis and ambitions remain subject to evolution over time and the scope of assets to be included in our 2050 net zero related goals remains under review. Great-West Lifeco intends to develop a set of activities and perspectives that will reinforce the measures its investment team uses to manage climate-related risks in its general account investments, and how Great-West Lifeco tracks its progress in doing so. Great-West Lifeco intends to include its expectation for how its investment actions will impact the carbon footprint of its in-scope assets over time, including key assumptions or dependencies that support those expectations and how they track against Great-West Lifeco’s ambitions, while prioritising risk-adjusted returns. The timing for this work, its scope and the achievability of our ambitions remain uncertain. Moreover, the data needed to support this work is limited in quality and availability and is inconsistent across the sectors Great-West Lifeco chooses to focus on. There is a strong possibility that our expectations, forecasts, estimates, predictions and conclusions may not prove to be accurate and our assumptions may prove to be incorrect, and there is a material risk we will not achieve our climate-related goals, objectives, ambitions, strategies and commitments. In addition, many of the assumptions, standards, metrics and measurements used in preparing these forward-looking statements are not audited or independently verified, have limited comparability and continue to evolve. 
    
   Our goals, objectives, priorities, ambitions, commitments and targets may also need to change or be recalibrated to meet our other strategic objectives and the reasonable expectations of our stakeholders, including expectations around financial performance. As a financial services company, our primary purpose is to provide our clients and customers with solutions to meet their financial security needs and to deliver on the promises we make to them. Our ability to fulfil this corporate purpose depends in large part on effective and responsible capital allocation and the ability to create value within the boundaries of our stakeholders’ expectations, including expectations around financial performance. The path to achieving net zero and our climate-related ambitions will require significant investment, resources, systems and technologies by third parties we do not control. Faced with a wide range of stakeholder interests, we will need to effectively manage trade-offs and make choices about how to deploy financial and human capital. These choices could include prioritizing other strategic objectives over our climate-related goals in pursuit of fulfilling our primary purpose, delivering value to our stakeholders and meeting expectations around financial performance. As our business, our industry and climate science evolve over time, we may need to adjust our climate- related ambitions and goals and our approach to meeting them. We will also need to remain thoughtful about the regulatory and business environment of the jurisdictions in which we operate, as our ability to achieve our climate goals is contingent on the success of our partners and communities. 
    
   We caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because numerous factors (many of which are beyond the control of the Companies) may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking information and impact the Companies’ ability to achieve its climate-related goals, objectives, priorities, ambitions, strategies and targets. These factors include, without limitation, the transition to a low-carbon economy, the need for more and better climate data and standardization of climate-related measurement methodologies, our ability to gather and verify data, our ability to develop indicators to effectively monitor our advancements and assess and manage climate-related risks, the need for active and continued action by stakeholders (including governmental and non-governmental organisations, our counterparties and other businesses and individuals), trade-offs and choices we make that prioritize other strategic objectives and financial performance over our climate-related ambitions and goals, the ability of clients, regulators and suppliers to meet and report on their publicly stated emissions and commitments, the viability of third-party decarbonisation scenarios, the availability of carbon offset and renewable energy instruments on economically feasible terms, compliance with our policies and procedures, our ability to recruit and retain key personnel in a competitive environment for talent, technological advancements, the evolution of consumer behaviour, varying decarbonisation efforts across economies, the challenges of balancing emission reduction goals with an orderly, just and inclusive transition and geopolitical factors that impact global energy needs, the legal and regulatory environment, and regulatory compliance considerations. In relation to our climate-related ambitions, goals, objectives, priorities, strategies and targets, there are limitations and uncertainties inherent in climate science, climate risk analysis and reporting. Great-West Lifeco Inc. has made good faith approximations and assumptions in establishing its interim Scope 1 and 2 reduction goals and initial reduction goals for Scope 3 financed emissions. However, there are many factors that are the subject of ongoing climate science and that we cannot foresee or accurately predict which will impact our ability to achieve those goals. 
    
   The above list of assumptions and factors is not exhaustive, and there may be other assumptions and factors listed in Great-West Lifeco Inc.’s filings with securities regulators, including in Great-West Lifeco Inc.’s 2024 Annual MD&A under “Risk Management” and “Summary of Critical Accounting Estimates” and in Great-West Lifeco Inc.’s annual information form dated February 5, 2025 under “Risk Factors”, which, along with other filings, is available for review at www.sedarplus.com. The reader is also cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. 
    
   Other than as specifically required by applicable law, Canada Life Limited does not intend to update any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 
   SAM add cautionary note