Brookfield Asset Management (TSX:BAM.A), the giant Canadian investor where former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney is chairman, has been accused of understating its carbon emissions by "an order of magnitude".
Reported emissions from the group could be 13 times lower than actual figures, particularly due to the exclusion of emissions from certain subsidiaries, according to research by Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC), which highlighted how Brookfield continues to invest in hundreds of fossil fuel assets despite its much-publicised focus on renewables via its massive transition funds.
Carney is also the current UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and has this week been attending the COP28 climate summit where he said in a speech: “Let’s see who stands up in the UAE at COP amongst the oil and gas companies and countries and we’ll start to judge who’s performing and who isn’t.”
According to the report from I4PC, around half of Brookfield's assets are not accounted for in its emissions data, including subsidiary Oaktree Capital Management, which the report said has stakes in at least 118 fossil fuel assets.
Oaktree, which represents 22% of Brookfield’s AUM, is excluded from Brookfield’s net zero target and associated reporting, and does not have its own net zero target or provide comprehensive emissions disclosure.
Brookfield also omitted indirect emissions from its calculations, the report highlighted, with declared emissions of 11.8 million tonnes in 2022 versus estimates in the report that the actual figure for 2023 could reach 159 million tonnes.
Brookfield contested the claims, saying it “has reviewed the report and notes that it cites emissions data that are based on unclear inputs and deploys an opaque methodology that appears to run counter to standard global reporting requirements. It also substantially misconstrues our corporate structure and presents emissions data in a manner that lacks context, making it susceptible to significant inaccuracies.”
The Canadian group manages assets worth around C$850 billion (£496 billion), with its assets including gas pipelines, power transmission lines, railways, toll roads and data infrastructure in North and South America, plus companies like nuclear developer Westinghouse.