The Climate Resilience Investment Act (CRIA) mandates that Treasury and the OIC pursue reducing greenhouse gas emissions from OPERF investments

When Will the Oregon Treasury Comply with the COAL Act? Divest Oregon’s COAL Act passed in 2024. The statute mandates annual reporting by the Oregon State Treasury (OST) to the Legislature “on actions taken pursuant to the act.” The COAL Act spells out that OST can only remain in a thermal coal investment if the company is transitioning to clean energy on a reasonable timeline. A full report under the COAL Act would document where each coal company is in its transition process, when OST expects it to be completed, and actions that will be taken if the transition is not occurring. The Treasury’s 2025 Net Zero Plan Progress Report does not comply with the statute. Table 5, shown below, was presented with this text: Staff determined that as of November 30, 2025, the portfolio had $15 million worth of investments in 12 securities identified as “Thermal Coal” companies, a decrease from $28,979,710.04 worth of investments in 21 securities reported by staff in 2024. p. 26 Divest Oregon promptly pointed out (p. 16) the contrast between the report and the statute.

Global emissions are up. Private equity is a culprit – and so is the Oregon Treasury. Private Equity Climate Risks consortium has just published its latest scorecard and report , endorsed by 21 organizations working on climate, environmental justice, financial accountability, and consumer issues, documenting (pages 10-28) that: ⚠️ 20 private equity firms’ energy portfolios: are responsible for producing an estimated 1.5 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. include more than 1,000 assets: 244 energy companies 250 oil and gas fields 15,000 miles of pipelines 35 LNG terminals 13 coal terminals dozens of LNG tankers hundreds of fossil fuel power plants. The Guardian (9/15/2026) on the Private Equity Climate Risks report: World’s top 20 private equity firms produce more greenhouse gases a year than most countries, report finds : Firms manage $7.3tn in assets and could afford to transition away from fossil fuels yet invest in natural gas and coal-fired plants to power datacenters. “Private equity firms have emerged as the largest datacenter owners outside  of big tech.” (See the case study on data centers starting on p 25 of the report.) What about Oregon? ⚠️Six private funds, held by the Oregon Treasury, hold at least 473 fossil fuel assets. These firms are: Blackstone, Brookfield Asset Management, Encap Investments, EQT, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Quantum Capital. All are in the Real Assets holdings. As Private Equity Stakeholder Project commented to the Oregon Investment Council (see Public Comment book of 9/2/2026 , page 8): Through existing OST fund commitments, OPERF likely has exposure to many of these 473 fossil fuel assets, which also create global climate risk. Some funds held by OST are making new investments in fossil fuels, pushing the pension fund further from Oregon’s Climate Resilience Investment Act (CRIA) goals and creating more risk for the fund. One example: BlackRock’s GIP. Oregon invested in GIP (Global Investment Partners fund), created to finance a new LNG terminal (see Is the Oregon State Treasury Supporting Environmental Racism in the Gulf South? Divest Oregon 9/26/2024). The fund is now managed by BlackRock and it plans to acquire AES, a massive US-based utility company that also backs 23 fossil fuel-fired power plants globally. If the AES deal closes, BlackRock’s GIP will nearly double its fossil fuel power plant portfolio to 50, spanning 11 countries.