Federal minister joins IEA Ministerial in Paris to promote international collaboration on net-zero

PARIS — Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, joined his international counterparts at the International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial in Paris, France, this week to help ensure international collaboration on global energy security and the transition to a net-zero emissions economy.

Since President Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Government of Canada has taken some action, banning imports of Russian oil, gas and petroleum products and imposing sanctions on the Russian regime.

Canada’s European friends and allies are experiencing an energy security crisis due to this illegal invasion.

European leaders have been clear: their short-term focus is on eliminating their reliance on Russian oil and gas, while they shift as rapidly as possible to renewables and clean hydrogen. The Government of Canada is working with its international partners in Europe and around the world to assist with both objectives. To this end, this week, Minister Wilkinson:

• met with European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson to discuss a joint Canada-EU working group to deepen our cooperation on energy security toward a net-zero energy transition, as announced yesterday by Prime Minister Trudeau;
• held multilateral and bilateral meetings with energy ministers and private sector partners to discuss energy security and to advance the energy transition in line with global climate commitments;
• announced that in response to requests for assistance from allies to address supply shortages due to the conflict in Ukraine, Canadian industry has the capacity to incrementally increase its oil and gas exports in 2022 by up to 300,000 barrels per day (200,000 bbl/d of oil and up to 100,000 BOE/d of natural gas), with the intention of displacing Russian oil and gas while not increasing global emissions;
• attended a meeting with his IEA counterparts to discuss how IEA member countries can work together to ensure availability of critical minerals required for the energy transition;
• announced $8 million for the IEA’s Clean Energy Transition Programme (CETP), to help emerging economies accelerate their energy transitions while meeting their energy needs; and
• announced a joint collaboration between the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Empowering People Initiative (EPI) and the IEA to develop in-depth analysis and guidance on actions aimed at ensuring all people benefit from new job opportunities in the clean energy transition.

“Our European friends and allies need Canada and others to step up. They’re telling us they need our help in getting off Russian oil and gas in the short term, while speeding up the energy transition across the continent. Canada is uniquely positioned to help with both. We will continue working with our international partners to support international energy markets and accelerate the energy transition.” saidJonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources Canada.