Glass Lewis Backs Push to Set Emission Caps at Brookfield Units

(Bloomberg) -- Shareholder advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. backed a proposal requiring Brookfield Asset Management Inc. to set emission-reduction targets for some of its subsidiaries that invest in the oil and gas sector. 

The proposal, brought by a shareholder, is aimed at publicly-listed Brookfield Business Partners and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and will be considered at the Toronto-based firm’s annual general meeting on June 10. 

The British Columbia General Employees’ Union calls on Brookfield to set emission targets consistent with the Paris Agreement for the two units by 2025. 

“This proposal has extremely flexible timing,” Glass Lewis said, adding that its targets are far more permissive than most proposals with similar requests and won’t place “undue burden” on Brookfield, Glass Lewis said in a report. 

The shareholder advisory firm said that Brookfield’s response to the proposal was that its climate strategy encompasses operating assets across each of its businesses and that it intends to increase the proportion of assets to be managed in line with net zero annually, consistent with its ambition to reach 100% over time.

The alternative investment firm, which manages $725 billion in assets, continues to invest in the oil and gas sector. 

Last year, Brookfield Infrastructure completed the acquisition of Inter Pipeline Ltd., which operates energy infrastructure assets across Western Canada. Brookfield’s Canadian natural gas properties produce approximately 41,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, according to Brookfield Business Partners, which also owns energy services provider Altera Infrastructure LP. 

The firm meanwhile is in the final stages of closing its $15 billion transition fund. 

Brookfield’s CEO Bruce Flatt said in a letter to shareholders earlier this year that, while every business does need to transition to a cleaner future, everything does not have to become green today — in fact, not everything can be green today. “It is therefore equally important to go where the emissions are and provide capital to convert a coal-based utility or a carbon-intensive industrial business.”

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