Canada ends support for unabated fossil fuel development
The government of Canada said December 8 it would move to end new support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of this year, advancing a commitment it made at COP26 in Scotland.
Natural Resources Canada minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced the implementation of this commitment with the release of policy guidelines that will ensure Canada’s ambitions set out at COP26 when it signed on to the Statement on International Public Support for the Clean Energy Transition. Canada was one of only three major energy producers who signed the statement, alongside 38 countries and institutions.
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Under the policy guidelines, Canada will end new, direct public financing for international unabated fossil fuel investments, guide Canada and its representatives in voting on the boards of multilateral development banks and inform the government’s positions in multilateral institutions such as the G7, G20 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The guidelines will apply to all federal departments, Crown corporation and agencies, including Canada’s export credit agency, Export Development Canada (EDC), which will continue to advance the transition away from oil and gas towards cleantech growth. EDC has already committed to C$2.5bn of support for international oil and gas projects, but will not renew that support and instead will grow its investments in cleantech from C$6.3bn in 2021 to C$10bn by 2025.
Canadian support for international projects in natural gas power generation are exempt from the guidelines, provided supported projects don’t have viable renewable energy alternatives and can demonstrate that they displace power generated from higher-emitting fossil fuels.
“Canada is delivering on its international climate commitments,” Wilkinson said. “With the release of today’s guidelines, Canada is taking another step toward becoming a clean energy and technology supplier of choice in a net-zero world.”