{"id":55800,"date":"2022-12-12T16:59:27","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T21:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=55800"},"modified":"2022-12-12T17:06:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T22:06:38","slug":"canada-to-mostly-stop-subsidizing-international-fossil-fuel-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/55800\/canada-to-mostly-stop-subsidizing-international-fossil-fuel-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada to (mostly) stop subsidizing international fossil fuel projects<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Canada has joined the growing ranks of nations promising to end international financing<\/a> of fossil fuels (though there are some worrisome exceptions). The Financial Post immediately warned<\/a> that without taxpayer subsidies it would be more expensive for private companies to build new fossil fuel projects which\u2026 is the whole point of the exercise.<\/p>\n\n

The decades-long global campaign to end fossil fuel subsidies \u2013 where we are literally spending public funds to worsen climate destruction \u2013 is beginning to bear fruit. Properly implemented, Friday\u2019s announcement from the Government of Canada is the equivalent of a big, juicy apple (or whatever fruit you prefer)  <\/p>\n\n

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Marchers sit on the front steps of the Canadian federal legislature building.\n\n15,000 Canadians march for peace and the climate. Greenpeace joins a coalition of organizers including environmental NGOs, First Nations, Unions, student groups and more for Canada’s flagship march in Ottawa (unceded Algonquin territory) on Sunday November 29th.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Earlier this year, Greenpeace Canada and over 100 other organizations called on the federal government<\/a> to end subsidies to fossil fuel companies. In particular, we noted that with strong implementation by signatories like Canada, the 2021 Glasgow Statement On International Public Support For The Clean Energy Transition<\/a> has the potential to directly shift at least USD 24 billion a year in influential, government-backed finance out of fossil fuels and into clean energy on an annual basis. Indirectly, it would shift even more by sending a clear signal to other governments and investors.<\/p>\n\n

On Friday, the federal government published Guidelines for Canada\u2019s International Support for the Clean Energy Transition<\/a>, which outlines how we will implement this promise. The new policy applies across all federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations but will predominantly impact Export Development Canada (EDC), a Crown corporation with a long history of funnelling billions in support to the oil and gas industry. As of January 2023, EDC (and the rest) will have to stop funding (most) fossil fuel projects and redirect those resources to support the clean energy transition.<\/p>\n\n

The big question mark is over the exceptions in the policy for financing fossil gas, fossil hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.<\/strong> On the one hand, these are allowed, which will blunt the effectiveness of the policy. On the other hand, there are fairly robust  conditions that projects must meet, including the requirement that any project receiving support must align with a pathway consistent with limiting global heating to 1.5\u00b0C. So if these conditions are applied with integrity, it is unlikely that any fossil fuel project would meet them. <\/p>\n\n

Expect future battles over this, but at least now industry must prove their project is \u201cgood\u201d rather than environmentalists trying to prove it\u2019s bad. <\/p>\n\n

In addition, and unlike most of Canada\u2019s peers<\/a>, the policy leaves the door open for fossil fuel projects on national security grounds, and further detail is needed on how this will be interpreted. In this year\u2019s World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency was clear<\/a> that investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy are the solution to the current energy crisis, not new investments in oil and gas.<\/p>\n\n

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The global energy crisis is turbocharging the growth of renewable energy.

The world is set to add as much renewable power in the next 5 years as it did in the past 20.

Learn more \u2192 https:\/\/t.co\/Qp52yeBWZs<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MfA7fo8Dfg<\/a><\/p>— International Energy Agency (@IEA) December 8, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>