TORONTO — Dollarama Inc. shareholders are being encouraged to vote to adopt a robust climate action plan for its operations and supply chain, according to SHARE – Shareholder Association for Research and Education, an award-winning non-profit organization dedicated to mobilizing investor leadership for a sustainable, inclusive and productive economy.
“Customers and investors alike want meaningful commitments and action from the companies they support,” says Kyela de Weerdt, SHARE’s Manager of Corporate Engagement and Advocacy.
“Companies that don’t act risk losing their social licence and falling behind as the global economy decarbonizes. All publicly traded companies need ambitious climate action plans today – the climate crisis demands it. Climate action is not just for energy producers.”
Dollarama is exposed to significant operational, financial and regulatory risks associated with climate change. Although the company has acknowledged that climate-related weather events can disrupt logistics, and that rising fuel prices will increase operational costs, it has not assessed and managed these risks through adequate targets and timelines that reduce their risk exposure.
Dollarama has a goal to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity by 25 per cent by 2030, but this goal is not aligned with climate-science, nor with a 1.5°C pathway. Furthermore, Dollarama has no 2050 target nor any time-bound commitment to disclose and reduce scope 3 emissions, which likely constitute an overwhelming majority of the company’s emissions.1
“Peer companies continue to make net zero commitments. Dollar Tree announced it will be setting a science-based net zero target by June of next year while growing at a significantly faster pace than Dollarama, which has cited growth ambition as a key barrier to setting science-based targets,” de Weerdt says. The company opened 65 stores last year, compared to Dollar Tree’s 464 store openings. “By reporting emissions and 1.5°C-aligned reduction targets across all relevant emissions scopes, Dollarama can provide investors with assurance that leadership is appropriately reducing the company’s climate footprint and addressing the growing risks associated with climate change.”
With more than 1,400 stores across Canada, Montreal-based Dollarama is the country’s largest dollar store retail chain. As such, it can play a major role in Canada’s climate efforts and in setting an example for other retailers, all while improving its own reputation and long-term risk exposure.
SHARE offers a guide for corporate climate action plans and is part of a global network of investor interest that seeks to ensure public issuers adopt meaningful emissions reduction targets and the climate plans to back them up.
For information, please contact:
Jennifer Story
Director, Education and Advisory Services
C: +1 416.461.6310
jstory@share.ca
