Alberta has a lot at stake as the UN climate conference begins | The Canadian News

As world leaders descend on Glasgow this week for the start of the 2021 UN Climate Conference, Alberta, the Canadian jurisdiction with perhaps the most at stake, will be watching.

COP26, as it is known, will be the most important global summit on climate change since Paris in 2015.

At the time, Canada pledged to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, with the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

That goal led directly to a series of actions taken by the Trudeau administration, including the introduction of a federal price for carbon and a clean fuel standard that is on the way.

Since then, the federal government has raised the bar on its own emissions reduction ambitions, saying it is now aiming for a reduction of 40 to 45 percent by 2035. To help meet that goal, the government has announced emission reduction targets. five-year emissions for the oil and gas industry, as well as regulations around methane.

These kinds of political implications are why many in Alberta, home to Canada’s oil and gas industry, will be watching closely to see what happens to the Glasgow summit.

“It’s important. It influences policy and resource development,” said Tristan Goodman, president of the Canadian Explorers and Producers Association, a lobby group representing oil and gas companies.

Goodman said that while in the past, the oil and gas industry may have looked at UN climate summits with a sense of dread, that is no longer the case. Since Paris, Goodman said, the industry has undergone a sea change in its understanding of the problem of climate change, with many companies making net zero commitments and investing in everything from hydrogen to carbon capture and storage to wind power.

“Most of the energy companies in Canada know that they are going through an energy transition. And they’ve gone way beyond accepting that to looking for opportunities, ”Goodman said.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) will send its own delegation to the Glasgow summit, including CAPP President Tim McMillan.

However, neither Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney nor any of his cabinet ministers will attend the climate summit. In an email, Environment Minister Jason Nixon said that the UCP government is avoiding non-essential travel at the moment, adding that “one more politician flying to Glasgow will not make any significant difference.”

Nixon said Alberta takes climate change seriously, pointing to the province’s own methane reduction targets, as well as its phasing out of coal-fired electricity ahead of schedule.

But he said Alberta and the province’s energy industry are frustrated with Canada’s “ever-changing emissions targets” and need clarity and predictability when it comes to climate policy.

Gary Mar, chairman and CEO of the Calgary-based nonpartisan think tank The Canada West Foundation, said many Albertans are concerned that COP26 will mean an increasingly aggressive push toward the total elimination of fossil fuels. He said that the energy industry is making real progress in reducing emissions, but it is silly for anyone to suggest that it can be invested in a penny overnight or replaced tomorrow by renewable energy.

“You can’t really make a transition just by removing things. In fact, you have to know why he is going to be replaced, ”said Mar.

Critics, however, say Alberta is not doing all it can on the climate front. The province doesn’t even have an overall emissions target, said Simon Dyer, deputy executive director of the Pembina Institute, a group of clean energy experts.

“Alberta is responsible for the largest share of Canada’s total emissions, the oil and gas sector is the largest single economic subsector, so Canada cannot achieve the emission reductions it needs without the jurisdiction responsible for the majority of it. of those emissions “. Dyer said.

Dan Balaban, CEO of Alberta-based renewable energy company Greengate Power, said Canada needs to use the Glasgow summit as a signal to stop talking and take action. He said that it is important that government funds flow into the renewable energy sector, although that may involve difficult decisions.

“There are all kinds of industries competing for some kind of government support. The fossil fuel industry and the renewable energy industry, ”Balaban said.

“And if we are to achieve our net zero ambitions, we must be very clear about who we intend to support in the future.”