This article originally appeared in the Western Standard.

Gina Pappano, Executive Director of InvestNow, believes that net-zero has and will continue to make Canada poorer. Despite global oil demand rising, the continued push for decarbonized oil, inequitable emissions policies, and UN climate targets, it is impossible for Canada to utilize its energy resources in a prosperous way.

Gina addresses the broader role of net-zero as a prevailing policy narrative within international and domestic decision-making, noting its continued influence on federal priorities and its implications for Canada’s long-term economic competitiveness and energy development.

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This article originally appeared in the Western Standard.

Gina Pappano, Executive Director of InvestNow, argues that Canada’s investment climate has become increasingly uncompetitive due to regulatory burdens, policy uncertainty, and weakened productivity. She points to sustained capital outflows and declining GDP per capita as evidence of deeper structural economic challenges.

She further contends that the federal government’s proposed $25 billion sovereign wealth fund is a misdirected response that fails to address these underlying issues. Rather than improving the investment environment, the initiative is framed as a debt-financed measure that diverts attention from the reforms needed to restore investor confidence and economic competitiveness.

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This article originally appeared in the Financial Post.

Gina Pappano, Executive Director of InvestNow, highlights a notable turning point in Canada’s banking sector, where recent AGMs have shifted away from activist and ideology-heavy discussions toward an agenda focussed on economic fundamentals. Discussions have increasingly centered on affordability, the rising cost of living, infrastructure investment, and the role of energy development in unleashing prosperity.

This change reflects a broader re-emphasis on fiduciary duty and financial discipline, as banks begin to reassess the extent to which climate and ESG-driven mandates have influenced capital allocation decisions. With some institutions stepping back from or abandoning net-zero commitments, it is evident that a return to market-based decision-making—one that prioritizes investment, competitiveness, and long-term economic growth over politically driven targets is on the rise.

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This article originally appeared in The Telegraph.

BP plc, also known as British Petroleum plc, has been reaffirming its commitment to its core oil and gas exploration, production, and refining operations under CEO Meg O'Neill, prioritizing shareholder value while scaling back its previous energy transition ambitions. This strategic shift has sparked opposition from activist investors, highlighting the growing debate over corporate climate commitments and long-term business performance.

Gina Pappano, Executive Director of InvestNow, is urging companies to push back against activist shareholders' climate ideologies and instead, prioritize strong returns for investors.

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This article originally appeared in The Epoch Times.

In April, RBC and Scotiabank announced that they would be abandoning their interim net-zero targets, citing them as "no longer reasonably achievable." While RBC is still pursuing net zero by 2050, Scotiabank has abandoned both its 2030 and 2050 net-zero targets.

Since 2022, Gina Pappano, Executive Director of InvestNow, has been presenting shareholder proposals to Canada's big five banks, encouraging them to drop their net-zero pledges. This is a win for shareholders and a win for InvestNow.

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This article was originally published by the Canadian Energy Centre.

In 2021, all of Canada’s Big Five Banks – TD, CIBC, BMO, Scotiabank and RBC – signed onto the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).

U.N.-sponsored and Mark Carney-led, GFANZ is a sector-wide umbrella coalition whose goal is to accelerate global decarbonization and the emergence of a worldwide net zero global economy.

But now, in the first month of 2025, four of Canada’s Big Five Banks – TD, CIBC, BMO and Scotiabank – have announced their decision to exit the NZBA.

This came on the heels of similar announcements by six of the biggest U.S. banks – Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo as well as the investment firm BlackRock leaving the Asset Management subgroup of the GFANZ.

That group, the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, has now suspended operations altogether, and the GFANZ and all of its subgroups are falling like a house of cards.

At InvestNow, the not-for-profit that I lead, we’re considering these developments a victory and a vindication of our work.

In November of 2024, we submitted shareholder proposals to Canada’s Big Five banks asking them to leave both the NZBA and the GFANZ. As of this writing, all but one of them have done just that.

But this is only a partial victory.

When they signed on to the NZBA, the banks pledged to align their lending, investment and banking activities with decarbonization goals, including achieving net zero emissions by 2050. They pledged to focus on higher emitting sectors first and foremost. In practice, this means they would be setting their sights on Canada’s natural resource sector.

That’s because the net zero ideology motivating these groups requires the drastic reduction of oil and gas production and use over a comparatively short period of time.

That is a serious threat to Canada since we’ve been blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Hydrocarbon energy has become the backbone of our economy, and the war being waged against it has already made our lives harder and more expensive. Left unchecked, these difficulties will compound, with ruinous results.

In joining the NZBA, the Big Five Banks agreed to divest from oil and gas, eliminating projects and companies from the investment pool simply because of the sector they work in, as part of a long-term goal of totally decarbonizing the economy.

Presumably, having left the Alliance, those banks could now change course, increasing investment in and lending to oil and gas firms with an eye toward increasing the return on investment for their shareholders.

Except the banks have stressed that they have no intention of doing so. In the press releases and articles about leaving the NZBA, each bank emphasized that this move should not be interpreted as them abandoning net zero itself. All of these banks remain committed to aligning their activities with decarbonization, no matter the cost to Canada, the Canadian economy or the good of its citizens.

This means we still have work to do. While we applaud the banks for exiting the NZBA, we will continue to work to get them to leave behind the net zero ideology as well. Then, and only then, will we claim a full victory.

Gina Pappano is the former head of market intelligence at the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange and executive director of InvestNow , a non-profit dedicated to demonstrating that investing in Canada’s resource sectors helps Canada and the world. Join the movement and pass the InvestNow resolution at investnow.org