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CalSTRS updates board on enterprise sustainability, path to net‑zero operations and reporting
Summary
CalSTRS staff presented the eleventh annual sustainability report, outlined enterprise efforts to align sustainability across operations and investments, and described state legislation reporting requirements; the board was briefed on staff training, GRI alignment and upcoming DGS‑led decarbonization plans.
CalSTRS staff briefed the Teachers Retirement Board on the system’s eleventh annual sustainability report and on enterprise efforts to align operational sustainability with investment portfolio net‑zero goals.
Lisa and Scott (CalSTRS enterprise staff) said the 2024 report integrates operations and investment stewardship, discloses enterprise greenhouse gas emissions and tracks metrics aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. Nancy Mancilla of ISOS Group, CalSTRS’ sustainability consultant, said the GRI approach is widely used and that CalSTRS’ materiality process has been validated through prior tests.
Staff described a mix of employee training and outreach efforts—including a net‑zero investment academy module, road shows for customer service and administrative staff, and plans to add a sustainability training module within enterprise risk and compliance training in spring 2025. Staff also reported human capital metrics in the report, including a 93 percent employee retention result against a 90 percent target and $2.5 billion in member contributions to CalSTRS Pension 2 as of June 30, 2024.
CalSTRS staff discussed California legislation requiring enterprise greenhouse‑gas reporting and decarbonization plans. Staff said Senate Bill 1203 (DGS/GLUMAQ process) will produce agency decarbonization action and investment plans with draft deliverables due in September 2025 and final agency plans to be published in January 2026; the law covers scope 1 and scope 2 emissions for state facilities and excludes investment‑portfolio emissions. Staff said Senate Bill 1020 requires increased on‑site clean energy production, and CalSTRS anticipates needing to procure additional clean energy from utilities to comply.
Nancy Mancilla noted that while many pension funds report on investment impacts, CalSTRS is among the few combining detailed enterprise operational reporting with investment stewardship reporting.
Ending: Board members asked whether the state legislation requires scope 3 disclosure; staff said the two cited bills require scope 1 and 2 only. Staff said they will continue to work with the Department of General Services, utilities and consultants on agency decarbonization plans and will report progress in future sustainability reports.
