Canada's energy minister warns being slow to respond to climate change 'represents a terrible gamble'

Canada is facing a series of challenges on its road to net zero with provincial governments on different pathways, but there needs to be an acceptance that going slow “represents a terrible gamble”, according to the Minister of Energy & Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson.

The minister told an audience at the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Petroleum Congress in Calgary that the world needs to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and that meaningful progress by 2030 is necessary.

Canada has a detailed and comprehensive plan for net zero by 2050, but cannot get there “if we begin this journey in 2040”, he said.

“Going slow and just hope for the best is a choice. And in my mind it represents a terrible gamble,” he added.

Wilkinson said there are two paths that Canada could take. The first accepts that climate change is a scientific reality, one that has to be addressed. The second path pretends the climate concern is a fallacy that would fade “and we don’t really need to do anything significant”.

“If we choose the second path, our environment will suffer, our economy will suffer, our competitiveness will suffer,” he said.

Clean energy opportunities

Canada is making good progress in some areas, and the government has worked for the past few years on strategies, investments, and improving regulations “to enable Canada to become the clean energy and technology supplier of choice in a net zero world”, he said.

It is urgent that work be accelerated on eliminating carbon emissions from the production of oil and gas, and it is essential the country should take the opportunities that “will be enabled through a transition to a low-carbon future”, Wilkinson said.

These opportunities would include critical minerals, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, electric vehicles, renewables, biofuels and small modular nuclear reactor technology.

The export of gas as liquefied natural gas is another clear opportunity, although it would have to be done in “an ultra-low-carbon manner by utilising carbon capture technology”, he said.

Potential LNG projects in Canada such as Cedar LNG could create jobs and prosperity for communities, but domestic emissions need to be consistent with the overall greenhouse gas production targets, the minister said.

Meanwhile, different parts of the country are at different stages on their route to net zero, and it is important that solutions be agreed to suit everyone, he said.

One example was the oil and gas powerhouse province of Alberta.

Aligning efforts

The governments of Alberta and Canada last week held the first meeting of a joint working group to align their efforts on emissions reduction and energy development.

Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith said in a statement the initial focus will be the federal electricity regulations, followed by other work including federal and provincial financial incentives for CCS, hydrogen and other emission-reducing technologies.

However, Smith said it would be “unacceptable to Alberta” if the federal government introduced final federal electricity regulations, an oil and gas emissions cap or a methane cap during the course of the working group’s negotiations.