The Institute will bring together research insights and industry experts to help clients and communities apply climate solutions

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is expanding its Economics and Thought Leadership group to create a dedicated approach to climate policy research and action across key sectors of the economy.

The RBC Climate Action Institute will bring together economists, policy analysts and business strategists to help research and advance ideas that can contribute to Canada’s climate progress.

The institute will work closely with businesses and industry partners to design practical ways to reduce net emissions. It will focus initially on buildings & real estate, agriculture, and energy systems.

We believe that sharing knowledge and potential solutions that are industry specific will help overcome challenges that clients and partners currently face when trying to move their plans forward.

The Institute will undertake work that advances a key pillar of RBC’s climate strategy, the RBC Climate Blueprint, focusing on providing ideas in areas where it believes it can have a meaningful impact.

The inspiration for the Institute grew out of work that RBC Economics & Thought Leadership began with The $2 Trillion Transition, which forecasted the private and public capital we believe would be needed to finance Canada’s transition to net-zero in key sectors of the economy. Further, alongside clients and leaders in the agricultural sector, the team worked to identify opportunities for advancing climate-smart agriculture, while meeting growing global food demand.

See related article: RBC Publishes 2022 ESG Performance and Climate Reports

This collaborative approach has been welcomed by many of our partners engaged in the initiative who also shared that a similar approach could be applied in other areas of the economy.

RBC has partnered with Maple Leaf Foods, Loblaw, Nutrien and many other leading companies to create the Canadian Alliance for Net-Zero Agriculture (CANZA). CANZA came together as we recognized a strong need in agriculture for potential net-zero solutions, and started researching and publishing reports on the sector such as The Next Green Revolution.

The RBC Climate Action Institute will continue similar collaborative efforts with partners in the buildings sector, including working with the Brookfield Sustainability Institute at George Brown College.

“The coming years are truly critical for Canada’s economic and net-zero ambitions with many complex challenges to resolve,” said John Stackhouse, senior vice president, Office of the CEO. “We believe that this collaborative approach will be an important catalyst as RBC and other organizations consider climate solutions.”

Across RBC we are proud of the progress that our teams have been making in helping clients and communities in which we operate to transition to net-zero, including:

• The formation of the Environmental Markets Solutions Group in Capital Markets, offering deep expertise and execution capabilities for global carbon markets and renewable energy solutions. RBC plans to enhance its efforts in the carbon markets through our recent investment in ClearBlue Markets, a global leader in carbon markets project development, analytics and research.
• Expanding our Sustainable Finance advisory team within Business Financial Services to support our approach to sustainability, believing that incorporating ESG insights alongside traditional financial analysis and market perspectives can lead to better outcomes and more opportunities for our clients.
• Expanded an RBC Foundation partnership with ALUS, a national charity that helps farmers and ranchers build nature-based solutions on their land, by investing an additional $1.5 million over three years for initiatives related to carbon sequestration on agricultural lands. This additional funding brings total support from RBC to more than $2.3 million since 2018.

“The climate challenges our society is facing are significant and complex, they require innovation, and, above all, they necessitate that we work together,” said Jennifer Livingstone, vice president of Enterprise Climate Strategy for RBC. “We’re harnessing the full power of RBC – our ability to convene leaders, share insights, apply solutions and advocate for change.”