New report critiques hydrogen claims and highlights risks tied to pension fund-backed gas assets
Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health (Shift) has released a report titled Gaslighting the Energy Transition: Hydrogen cannot prevent investments in gas from putting planet and profits at risk.
The report examines the financial risks and climate impacts associated with Canadian pension funds' investments in gas infrastructure companies globally, particularly as the energy transition accelerates.
The report reveals that nine of Canada’s largest pension managers collectively co-own 22 private gas companies, operating nearly 350,000 km of pipelines worldwide.
These investments, according to Shift, are at risk of becoming stranded assets due to declining demand for gas utilities as electrification technologies advance.
The gas industry has positioned hydrogen as a potential replacement to protect existing infrastructure, but Shift’s report highlights that these claims fail to hold under scrutiny.
The report cites financial, physical, and technical barriers that hinder hydrogen from replacing gas at scale. It underscores the scientific consensus that phasing out gas is necessary to meet climate goals.
Paul Martin, co-founder of the Hydrogen Science Coalition, criticized the gas industry’s greenwashing tactics, stating, “We’ve come to expect the gas industry to protect its dead-end business model... But we should expect our pension managers to be sophisticated enough to see through this false hydrogen hype.”
Adam Scott, executive director of Shift, noted that investments in gas assets are incompatible with climate imperatives and disrupt emerging energy markets.
He called for pension managers to reassess their strategies, stating, “Canadian workers should not have their retirement savings invested in these high-risk, high-carbon, soon-to-be-stranded assets.”
The report provides case studies of six gas utilities co-owned by Canadian pension funds, including National Gas (UK), Scotia Gas Networks (UK), Open Grid Europe (Germany), Società Gasdotti Italia (Italy), Exolum (Spain), and Tallgrass Energy (US).
These studies highlight the challenges of transitioning to hydrogen and its limited role in transportation, power production, building heating, and industrial uses.
Lisa Jeffery, a science teacher and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan member, expressed concern about her retirement savings.
She said, “I was shocked to learn how much my pension managers have bought into hydrogen propaganda spread by the gas industry and exposed my savings to gas assets that need to be decommissioned.”
