CP Got Greener in 2020

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
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Canadian Pacific has published its 2020 corporate sustainability report on the company’s “successes and achievements on its journey to being sustainably driven.” The report “provides an overview of CP’s continued progress in three sustainability areas of focus: operating safety, maintaining operational excellence throughout the network, and managing the social impact of CP’s work.”

“We are proud to publish this report, outlining the achievements we have realized on our journey to be sustainably driven,” said Keith Creel, CP President and Chief Executive Officer. “CP is continually looking for impactful ways to incorporate sustainability into all aspects of our business and maintain our position as a sustainability leader in the rail industry.”

CP noted the following  sustainability achievements:

In the Safety category, CP finished 2020 with its lowest ever Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)-reportable personal injury frequency rate. Personal injuries were down 22% from 2019, with a frequency rate of 1.11 per 200,000 employee-hours. CP led the North American Class I railroads in the lowest FRA-reportable train accident frequency rate for the 15th consecutive year. In 2020, CP invested $1.67 billion into the railway to further enhance network capacity and improve performance and safety.

Under Operational Excellence, CP established science-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets covering 100% of scope 1 and 2 emissions. As part of CP’s Climate Strategy, CP continued to invest in emissions reductions. For example, CP completed the installation of a 5-megawatt solar energy farm at the Calgary headquarters and announced its Hydrogen Locomotive Program to create North America’s first line-haul hydrogen locomotive prototype. In 2020, CP continued to reduce GHG emissions through fuel efficiency measures, achieving a 44% improvement in locomotive fleet fuel efficiency since 1990. CP made significant investments in innovation, including cold wheel detection technology, broken rail detection and remote safety inspections, to further improve network velocity, resiliency and safety.

For Social Impact, in December 2020, CP celebrated the CP Holiday Train virtually for the first time. As a result, CP donated $1.24 million to more than 200 food banks in communities along its network that have benefited from CP Holiday Train events previously. CP established three diversity councils focused on the topics of racial, gender (including 2SLGBTQ+) and Indigenous diversity. In 2020, CP donated US$1 million to three charities dedicated to strengthening communities in response to the social injustice and social unrest across the U.S.

CP’s reported “its actions and efforts to strengthen its sustainability leadership were recognized this year by Corporate Knights Magazine’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens list and by the World Finance Sustainability Awards 2020, which named the company a sustainability leader in the transportation industry.”

“CP continues to follow best practices for disclosure and adapt to evolving sustainability frameworks,” the company said. “CP’s sustainability disclosures are prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Standards and align closely with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Rail Transportation Framework. In 2020, CP expanded its sustainability disclosure to include reporting aligned with the recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure and is reporting on its contributions towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”

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