Last week, As You Sow and Corporate Knights released the Carbon Clean 200, a global list of 200 publicly traded companies that are leading the way to a clean energy future. 18 Canadian companies made the list.
According to the report, $10,000 invested in the Clean200 on July 1, 2016, would have grown to $20,709 by Jan. 31, 2022, versus $20,315 for the MSCI ACWI broad market benchmark and $13,167 for the MSCI ACWI/Energy benchmark for fossil fuel companies.
The top 10 companies on the list by revenue include Apple (AAPL), which offers sustainably-certified phones and laptops; Alphabet (GOOG), whose operations are 100% powered by renewable energy; Intel Corp.; Taiwan’s TSMC (TSMC) for low-energy microchip solutions; and Iberdrola SA (IBDRY) for clean power generation. Companies that contributed the most to the Clean200’s outperformance over the past year were primarily from China, the U.S., South Korea, and Canada and include electric vehicles, environmental protection, energy conservation solutions, and green energy themes.
Here are the Canadian Companies that made the list:
Name |
Ticker |
Industry |
Morningstar Star Rating |
Economic Moat |
Ballard Power Systems |
Specialty Industrial Machinery |
|||
Boralex Inc Class A |
Utilities - Renewable |
|||
Canadian National Railway Co |
Railroads |
2 |
Wide |
|
Canadian Pacific Railway |
Railroads |
2 |
Wide |
|
Cascades |
Paper & Paper Products |
|||
Celestica Inc |
Electronic Components |
|
||
Cogeco |
Telecom Services |
|
||
GFL Environmental |
GFL |
Waste Management |
||
Gildan Activewear |
Apparel Manufacturing |
1 |
None |
|
Innergex Renewable Energy |
Utilities - Renewable |
|||
KP Tissue |
Household & Personal Products |
|||
Northland Power |
Utilities - Renewable |
|||
Stantec |
Engineering & Construction |
|||
TELUS |
Telecom Services |
3 |
Narrow |
|
TransAlta Renewables |
Utilities - Renewable |
|||
Transcontinental |
Specialty Business Services |
|||
WSP Global |
Engineering & Construction |
|||
Canadian Solar |
Specialty Industrial Machinery |
Source: Morningstar Direct
Our analysts only cover four of the companies on the list: CN Rail, CP Rail, Gildan Activewear, and Telus. And none are currently cheap. Both railways earn ‘Wide’ economic moats, meaning they can withstand competition for years to come. Telus has a narrow economic moat, while Gildan has no economic moat.
What’s Out
The list also excludes companies that are flagged on As You Sow’s Invest Your Values suite of mutual fund transparency tools that identify companies involved in fossil fuels, deforestation, weapons, gender inequality, tobacco, and the prison industrial complex.
Four Canadian companies were excluded:
Name |
Ticker |
Industry |
Morningstar Star Rating |
Economic Moat |
Bank of Montreal |
Banking |
3 |
Narrow |
|
Teck Resources |
Mining |
3 |
None |
|
Resolute Forest Products |
Forestry |
|
|
|
Enbridge |
Energy |
3 |
Narrow |
Of these, Morningstar analysts cover Bank of Montreal and Enridge, both fairly valued, and both investor darlings.