With over 460,000 members, HOOPP is one of Canada’s largest pension plans. Real estate assets are critical to HOOPP’s investment strategy and represent 17% of HOOPP’s net assets.

Energy efficiency is one of the key ESG factors that is integrated into HOOPP’s real estate sustainability strategy as HOOPP believes that improving the energy performance of its assets not only contributes to climate mitigation, but also enhances the long-term value and resilience of its portfolio.

In 2021, HOOPP Real Estate committed to a 50% reduction of GHG emissions by 2030 compared to its 2019 baseline. Since then, the pension plan has reduced emissions by approximately 20,000 tonnes of CO2 since 2019, a nearly 20% reduction.

To ensure this target is met, HOOPP requires significant engagement with its third-party managers. Therefore, it has requested all managers complete its newly created custom tool that provides insight into which properties could demonstrate a credible plan to achieve the target and which required assistance.

HOOPP launched its LEAP Forward innovation competition in 2016, which encourages external managers to pitch innovative projects that improve sustainability performance and can be scaled across the portfolio. Since the launch, HOOPP has invested over CAD12m (€8.1m) to fund new innovations aimed at technological innovation, climate mitigation, community impact and greenhouse gas reductions.