Business Council of Alberta releases report on cleantech policy recommendations

CALGARY — On Mar. 3, the Business Council of Alberta releases From Outsized Emissions to Outsized Opportunities: Policies to Support an Alberta Low-Carbon Industrial Strategy, a new paper that outlines a detailed set of policy recommendations that will try and position Alberta’s industrial and agriculture sectors as the preferred global suppliers of low-carbon products and climate solutions. The report was developed by Alberta business and Indigenous leaders through the Council’s Energy and Environment Committee and stakeholder input.

“The core message of this report is that Canada’s pathway to net zero runs straight through Alberta,” says Al Reid, Director Oilsands Pathways to Net-Zero Initiative and Chair of the committee. “Alberta businesses are on board to build the low carbon future and pathways to net zero that Canadians collectively want. Companies are already investing significantly in projects and technology to build this future. To achieve our goals, we need the right policy environment; and we need government and business working together. We have to set up the conditions for success.”

This strategy outlines a plan to:

• Significantly reduce both domestic and global emissions.
• Create new technology Canada can export to the world.
• Maximize Alberta’s potential and build a prosperous and sustainable low-carbon future for all Canadians.

“First Nations communities have a deep and unending relationship to the land,” says Dale Swampy, President, National Coalition of Chiefs and committee member. “Our people will be here long after major development projects have come and gone. We support Canada’s natural resource industries because we want to ensure that our ancestral territories are protected and reclaimed to their original status, and we want to participate in the prosperity the comes from natural resource development. The three goals of the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy report ensure that First Nation concerns are met,” says Swampy.

The report notes Canada needs to deploy substantially more investment to reach its 2030 and 2050 targets. Current spending levels are at a fraction of where they need to be to achieve Canada’s climate goals.

“Canada needs to innovate and invest at both greater speed and scale to reduce carbon emissions and create the pathways to net zero,” says Adam Legge, President of the Business Council of Alberta. “This Low-Carbon Industrial Strategy is the plan to decarbonize Alberta’s industry, reduce emissions at home and around the world, and build greater partnerships with Indigenous communities, while creating new technology and greater prosperity,” says Legge.

Seventy-seven percent of Alberta’s emission are from industrial and agriculture sectors. These are emissions that occur in Alberta but are often a result of needs and benefits elsewhere.

“The federal government has asked industry to come up with tailored plans to meet our Paris commitments and create a pathway to net zero. This is the strategic plan for Alberta industry and agriculture to do just that,” says Legge. “You need to provide plenty of water to the area of your garden you expect to grow the most food. Similarly, federal carbon-reduction investments should be focused on Alberta.”