Climate Crunch

RBC Climate Action Institute’s latest annual survey of 150 executives shows 136 (91%) Canadian executives said their organization had a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategy—a sizable jump from 73% in last year’s survey.¹

The survey, part of the RBC Climate Action Institute’s soon-to-be released Climate Action 2026 report, finds businesses in review-and-reset mode.

While a strong majority had a strategy, they were scaling back their targets in the interim: the percentage of executives “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” when asked whether their organizations will reach its 2030 climate targets stood at 71% this year, compared to 81% last year.

That seems understandable as tectonic shifts are shaking up several planks of the Canadian and global economy this year, including trade, investments and energy security. Nearly three out of five senior leaders said their companies are planning to scale, or have already scaled back, their climate commitments or targets. More than a quarter cited the risk of political blowback in the U.S. as a key factor in their company’s decision, while just over 20% pointed to shifting sentiment at home for their decision.

A few other highlights from our survey:

• Executives believe they should be driving climate progress. Corporate priority (63%) was the biggest driver of their emissions reduction strategy, followed by government regulation (60%). With several federal and provincial government climate policies in retreat in Canada, it will be interesting to see whether GHG emission reduction strategies wane in future surveys.

• Energy efficiency was a popular way (82%) to lower emissions. When asked “what’s the primary focus of your organization’s climate strategy?” 62% picked waste reduction, and 41% identified the purchase of carbon credits—similar to last year. There was, however, a drop in switching away from fossil fuels (46% in 2025, versus 52% in 2024), and electrification (48% in 2025, versus 59% in 2024).

• Customers are seeking sustainable products and services. Customer/client demand (54%) was the next big driver of their strategic decision-making—little changed from last year despite new economic and affordability pressures on customers. However, only 30% of executives cited investor demand as a key factor.

• Sustainability policies are viewed as expensive… 60% of executives said implementing sustainability policies led to a moderate cost increase of between 5 to 15% to their business costs, while another 13% reported cost inflation exceeding 15%. In our survey, we did not define what sustainability policies companies were pursuing.

• … But deploying climate policies had upside, according to the executives. Around a third of executives (32%) reported commanding premium pricing for their lower-carbon products and services, with 29% reporting securing new market access; 45% said their climate initiatives attracted new customers and business partners. However, nearly a third suggested they faced cost disadvantages compared to competitors with fewer climate considerations. A fifth reported noting no difference from their climate action.

• Lack of access to capital tops the barriers list. In addition, the challenge of qualifying for government incentives and regulatory uncertainty, along with macro-economic conditions, were most frequently ranked as the top three barriers facing executives in their effort to lower their corporations’ GHG emissions.