Senator Rosa Galvez

Quotes

We believe it is imperative to transform our economy into one that protects the earth and guarantees equity for all. Achieving this will require bold collective action and that means all sectors, including the financial sector, need to play their part.
Vancity has long been an environmental champion within the financial sector. We were the first financial institution in North America to achieve carbon-neutrality in its operations, and the first in Canada to offer a Socially Responsible Investment mutual fund. In 2021, we committed to bring the GHG emissions in our lending portfolio to net zero by 2040, ten years ahead of the standard Paris timeline. We are now working with our retail and business members to support their emissions-reduction journey through expert advice and innovative banking products, and are working with community organizations to build climate resilience in our communities, especially among more vulnerable populations. We are particularly focused on working to ensure that no one is left behind.
The climate emergency is changing how the entire world lives, works, and plays. For that reason, it is urgent that our legislators debate ambitious ideas and innovative solutions. Bill S-243 is a great starting point for an important conversation about how to take meaningful action to invest in a future that’s clean and fair for everyone.
– Vancity

“As committed players in the world of sustainable finance in Quebec and Canada, we are committed to ensuring that the legislative and regulatory frameworks of federal financial institutions and other entities under federal regulation take scientific warnings into account and are modernized using inspiration from the best international financial practices.
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) once again attests to the urgency of aligning our private and public efforts to limit the consequences of climate change. The report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to the Parliament of Canada published in March 2023 entitled Oversight of financial risks related to climate change - Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions confirms the delay accumulated in Canada to prepare financial institutions and the entire financial system to climate risks that are already present, and which will be duplicated in the future.
This is why we support the Honorable Rosa Galvez’s Climate-Aligned Finance Act in her desire to upgrade our federal financial system in the face of climate change, and hope that this project will quickly continue its legislative journey.”
– Caisse d'économie solidaire Desjardins

“Senator Galvez you are my hero for your constant focus on practical climate action including climate-aligned finance!"
– The Honourable Catherine McKenna

“I certainly support Bill S-243. I think there are aspects of it that may be strengthened through the debates and parliamentary process. I think it's a compilation, as Senator Galvez has said, of some of the best practices around the world. Motion 84 that I tabled in the House of Commons as a signal and a sign to both the government and to other parties that we need to start to have these debates in preparation for what I hope will be a successful passage through the Senate of Senator Galvez's Bill, whereupon we can start our parliamentary work on that Bill."
– MP Ryan Turnbull

“I'm pleased to be here on behalf of the NDP and to express my support both for Senator Galvez's Bill, the Climate-Aligned Finance Act, and for MP Turnbull's motion, which are part of this move to align our financial system with the imperative of climate action. We know that voluntary approaches aren't working. We can't simply encourage these institutions to do the right thing; we need to require it. And I think that's very much the spirit of Senator Galvez's Bill, which changes the rules that our financial system operates by. (…) I think that Senator Galvez's Bill, because there has been so much thought that's gone into it, because it reflects really some of the strongest thinking on how we reform our financial system, we know that time is of the essence. And because all this work has been done, because it's been articulated in legislation, it's imperative now that we move it through the legislative process as quickly as possible."
– MP Taylor Bachrach

“My tributes to Senator Galvez, I have said it many times, this is a bill that many of us would have liked to have authored and we have seen Senator Galvez over the last few months consult and meet experts and scientists. The amount of scientific input behind this bill is impressive. What this bill reminds us of is that capital flows can be a formidable force in the economy. At present, they are too often a formidable force in favor of the status quo, and will take us far too quickly beyond the two-degree mark. (...) What the bill also reminds us of is the importance of transparency, the importance of the private sector, the importance of having scientific targets, the importance of having costed plans, it also reminds us that goodwill is not public policy."
– MP Jean-Denis Garon

“I am absolutely in favor of Senator Galvez's bill s.243, it is such an important bill and I hope that the Senate will vote in favor of it and that we will be ready as MPs to make the effort for a bill that will work. We are united in the goal of getting Canada's role in climate finance to meet the task, and there's nothing more urgent and nothing more important."
– MP Elizabeth May

“Thanks to the tireless work of expert groups like Réseau Environnement, we now know that investing in the green economy pays off. Innovative environmental solutions already exist, but to achieve structural change, it is up to our legislators to ensure that public policy is informed by the knowledge of our experts and the know-how of our environmental entrepreneurs. It's a question of competitiveness: in the 21st century, Canada's economy will be green or it will fail to meet the expectations of investors and citizens alike. The adoption of Bill S-243 would be a necessary step forward for sustainable finance.”
– Réseau Environnement

“We’ve seen a major ramping up of net-zero commitments from the public and private sector, but we must face the elephant in the room: our financial system continues to fund activities that fuel climate risk. Canadians are asking for legislative solutions that will help accelerate the transition and achieve our targets. The only scenario in which our financial sector will thrive and prosper for generations to come is the one where we pursue a coherent and orderly transition.”
– The Honourable Senator Rosa Galvez, Ph.D., P.Eng., FEC, FCSCE

“Investors with over $130 trillion under management and businesses with over $5 trillion in sales (and counting) have so far committed to a net-zero emission target in line with a 1.5-degree future. The scale of the challenge requires a whole-of-economy approach. Government has a critical role to play by providing the right incentives. Senator Galvez’s proposed bill would help level the playing field and provide the right incentives for the financial sector to facilitate a pathway for those businesses and investors to achieve their net zero commitments. The window is closing fast. The time to act is now to set Canada on a prosperous and competitive path to a low-carbon future.”
– Professor Amr Addas, Strategic Advisor for Sustainability, Concordia University

“There is already plenty of work being done to address the risk of climate change to an individual company or a bank, but what is valuable about the Climate-Aligned Finance Act is that it addresses the systemic risk that these institutions impose on the real economy by financing fossil fuel expansion. Banks aren’t at risk of going bankrupt from these activities, but their collective risky investments ‒ likely to result in stranded assets and stranded workers ‒ pose a risk to the stability of Canada's economy as a whole.”
– Dr. Ellen Quigley, Senior Research Associate (Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance), University of Cambridge

“The Climate-Aligned Finance Act puts into place the clarity and predictability needed to enable Canada's financial sector to compete globally on a level playing field. It puts Canadian financial actors and regulators in a position to make substantial contributions to keeping Canada's emissions to safe levels. And, most importantly, it provides Canadians with the visibility they need to invest their savings with a safe climate future in mind.”
– Celine Bak, President and Founder, Analytica Advisors

“In order to help combat climate change, Canada must change the way the financial system operates to encourage the allocation of capital, both invested and loaned, to more environmentally and socially sustainable activities. The measures proposed in the proposed Climate-Aligned Finance Act will help make the financial sector and the Canadian economy more resilient to the risks associated with the climate crisis and will allow Canadian savers to contribute to the solutions and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
– François Meloche, Head of Corporate Engagement, Æquo

“Sustainable finance and investing are a dynamic fast-moving field. The Climate-Aligned Finance Act goes a long way towards aligning Canadian sustainable finance with emerging international developments such as the new European Union green taxonomy. Pension organizations should already be clarifying the scope of fiduciary duty in the context of climate change and the Act reinforces and codifies this. The clearer these responsibilities, the better.”
– Keith Ambachtsheer, Director Emeritus, International Centre for Pension Management

Endorsers

Read the full endorsement letter here.