OTTAWA — Jonathan Arnold, Clean Growth Research Lead with the Canadian Climate Institute, made the following statement in response to the federal government’s new carbon management strategy.

“The new federal carbon management strategy underscores that carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies could play a pivotal role in reducing emissions in hard-to-abate sectors, such as cement, chemicals, iron and steel, and oil and gas. But Canada’s pursuit of CCUS must not detract from the resources and momentum behind deploying the range of solutions that are cost-effective, available and reliable today—including renewable energy, batteries and storage, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, and heat pumps. 

“High-emitting industries may need to invest in CCUS to stay competitive in the global race to net zero. But making CCUS commercially viable and scalable will take an unprecedented amount of private capital in a short time frame, and success is not guaranteed. 

“As governments across the country work toward Canada’s 2030 and 2050 climate goals, and as global markets accelerate toward a low-carbon future, any additional public investments in CCUS should be targeted, temporary, and transparent. 

“To help ensure public dollars only go to projects aligned with Canada’s long-term economic and climate goals, Canada should move forward with adopting a transparent and rigorous funding framework. Developing this type of framework can help direct scarce public dollars toward sectors and projects that have high growth potential in a net zero future. Such a framework could also use the proposed climate investment taxonomy—supported by Canada’s 25 largest financial institutions—to evaluate public investments in CCUS and whether they align with Canadian climate targets. 

“CCUS may prove to be a crucial tool to cut emissions, and there are cases where it makes sense to put additional public dollars toward scaling up the technology. What’s more important, however, is that Canada continues to develop a strong foundation of climate policies—such as the proposed oil and gas cap, clean electricity regulations and closing loopholes in industrial carbon pricing. These policies create the market signals necessary to mobilize private capital, drive innovation, and accelerate the development of new climate solutions that can benefit Canada and the world.”

Background: 

Media release: Canada’s new climate investment taxonomy framework critical to securing competitiveness, achieving targets, experts say

Opinion: Cash flow modelling shows that governments must walk a fine line on supporting carbon capture and storage at oilsands facilities

Report: Canada’s Net Zero Future

Discussion Paper: Canada’s oil and gas sector, the road to net zero and regional fairness 

CONTACT 

Catharine Tunnacliffe
Communications Director
Canadian Climate Institute
(226) 212-9883
ctunnacliffe@climateinstitute.ca