TRANSITION STATUS Canada’s Clean Energy Efforts Garner International Plaudits By Barbara Carss CANADA’S CLEAN ENERGY efforts have been deemed exemplary among oil and gas producing countries. A recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) generally commends the federal government’s targets and policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and identifies Canada as a potential key player in the transition to low-carbon energy sources — both as a stable supplier of the fossil fuels that will be needed in the interim and as a leader in curbing emissions from oil and gas production. As an oil and gas exporter, Canada is in the minority of the IEA’s 30 member nations. However, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol suggests that gives it strategic influence in the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with which the IEA is affiliated, and the wider global context. One of the world’s most stringent emission taxes — currently at $50 per tonne, but set to increase in annual $15-increments until it reaches $170 in 2030 — a recent pledge to cut oil and gas methane emissions to 75% below 2012 levels by 2030, and committed 10 July 2022 | Canadian Property Management
investment in energy-related research and development (R&D) are all cited as indicators of serious intent. “We still need oil and gas for years to come and, therefore, somebody has to produce it. I prefer that fuels are produced by countries that: a) produce them in a clean way; and b) are reliable partners for the consumers.” Birol observed during an online media briefing earlier this year in conjunction with the release of the IEA’s report. “We follow many oil and gas producing countries around the world, looking at their plans, programs and the concrete steps they are making. I can very easily and comfortably say, in terms of transformation and taking it seriously, Canada is definitely in the top league of all those oil producing countries when it comes to addressing our climate challenge.” “The IEA is one of the world’s most trusted voices on energy and it’s both rewarding and reassuring to have the agency acknowledge our impressive leadership, as they put it, on climate action, while commending our conscious efforts and historic investments to get Canada to net-zero emissions by 2050,”
responded Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, who also participated in the online briefing. That said, the report identifies many opportunities for improvement and makes recommendations for priority actions as part of a comprehensive review of energy policy, programs, infrastructure, demand pressures, components of supply and resulting environmental implications. The IEA conducts such in-depth assessments of all its member nations on an ongoing basis, and last scrutinized Canada’s energy landscape in 2015. For 2022, IEA analysts highlight three fundamentals of the low-carbon transition — energy efficiency, renewable energy, and R&D and innovation — which are further emphasized in two of the report’s four overarching key recommendations. They call for increased federal funding for emerging clean energy technologies and the development of a national energy efficiency strategy that establishes targets for the buildings, transportation and industrial sectors.
