Take our quiz to find out how much you know about investingIllustration by Ally Jaye Reeves
1 The corporate world is being transformed as investors focus on companies’ ESG standards. What does ESG stand for?
a. Equities, stocks and government
b. Environment, structure and guidance
c. Environmental, social and governance
d. Etiquette, sincerity and gratitude
c. ESG refers to environmental, social and governance.
2 As the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, a former governor of the Bank of Canada has led efforts to get the world’s financial institutions to align their investing and lending activities to help achieve emissions reductions spelled out in the Paris Agreement. Who is he?
a. David Dodge
b. Dick Pound
c. Gordon Lightfoot
d. Mark Carney
d. Mark Carney
3 Experts say a good way to start on a journey of green investing is to buy shares in a relatively low-risk type of security made up of several stocks that are part of an index, such as an ESG index. What are these securities called?
a. Green bonds
b. Exchange-traded funds
c. Equity-linked guaranteed investment certificates
d. Mutual funds
b. Exchange-traded funds
4 As green investing has become a big part of the global economy, many investors worry that some companies are just paying lip service to environmental issues by playing up minor programs while doing nothing to deal with big problems, such as carbon emissions. What is this practice called?
a. Greenmailing
b. Greenwashing
c. Bullsharing
d. Eco-fibbing
b. Greenwashing
5 Energy transition is a term that describes the period in which transportation and electricity generation shift gradually from being fuelled by high carbon sources, such as oil and coal, to renewable technology, like wind, solar or hydro. What percentage of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions stem from the production and consumption of energy today?
a. 65 per cent
b. 99 per cent
c. 82 per cent
d. 47 per cent
c. 82 per cent
6 Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, 196 countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero to keep global temperatures from soaring well above the pre-industrial average and fuelling worsening climate impacts. What is the maximum average temperature increase Canada is targeting with the agreement, and by what year?
a. 3 C to 3.5 C by 2070
b. - 1.5 C to -2 C by 2030
c. 2.5 C to 7 C by 2100
d. 1.5 C to 2 C by 2050
d. 1.5 C to 2 C by 2050
7 TPG Capital is a U.S.-based private equity manager that runs The Rise Funds, which has raised US$12-billion to invest in companies seeking to make impacts in the fight against climate change and in increasing global health-care delivery. TPG partnered with a rock star when it started these funds in 2016. Which one?
a. Bono
b. Elton John
c. Sting
d. Celine Dion
a. Bono
8 At the climate talks in Glasgow, in November, 450 banks, insurers and asset managers from 45 countries, including Canada, agreed to make the race to net zero emissions a key part of their investment decisions. The group is called the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, or GFANZ. What is the total worth of all of those firms’ investments?
a. US$22-billion
b. US$1-trillion
c. US$930-billion
d. US$130-trillion
d. US$130-trillion
9 Canadian and global investors have expressed keen interest in a technology that could make a big impact in the race to stop greenhouse gas from rising into the atmosphere – that is, if it works on a massive scale. Some environmentalists frown on the idea as an excuse to continue producing fossil fuels. It goes by the initials CCUS. What does that stand for?
a. Carbon capture, utilization and storage
b. Carbon capture and universal storage
c. Capturing carbon for university studies
d. Crystallized carbon for unrestricted science
a. Carbon capture, utilization and storage
10 Canada’s largest pension funds have taken different approaches to how they intend to deal with the climate change risks for companies in which they invest on behalf of beneficiaries. Some have set their own targets to get to net zero, while others have yet to take that step. Which pension fund said in September that it would sell all its interests in oil-producing companies by the end of 2022?
a. Alberta Investment Management Corp.
b. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
c. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
d. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
d. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
11 The S&P/TSX Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Index is a grouping of 21 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange that are developing green technologies in a range of industries. It includes such names as Brookfield Renewable Partners LP, Boralex Inc., New Flyer Industries Inc. and SunOpta Inc. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the index jumped 84 per cent. How did it fare in 2021, as of Dec. 17?
a. Up 120 per cent
b. Down 4 per cent
c. Up 19 per cent
d. Down 24 per cent
d. Down 24 per cent
12 How did the index that measures the broad market, the S&P/TSX Composite Index, perform in 2021 (as of Dec. 17)?
a. Up 120 per cent
b. Down 4 per cent
c. Up 19 per cent
d. Down 24 per cent
c. Up 19 per cent
13 In early 2021, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset management firm, wrote in his annual letter to investors that companies in BlackRock’s portfolios must show that they are accounting for climate-related risks in their businesses and planning for the energy transition. What did he say BlackRock could do if the companies fail to show progress in those areas?
a. Report the senior executives to the police or hit them with multibillion-dollar lawsuits
b. Give managers bonus cheques as incentives to improve their performance, but still give them a stern talking to
c. Use its power as an influential shareholder to vote against management at annual meetings or flag the stocks for potential sale
d. Terminate the managers and boards of directors and run the companies itself.
c. Use its power as an influential shareholder to vote against management at annual meetings or flag the stocks for potential sale
How well did you do?
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Jeffrey Jones