Oil and gas is Canada's highest-polluting sector, accounting for 26% of total emissions. If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government is to meet its climate target of reducing overall emissions 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030, the oil and gas industry will need to make drastic cuts.
"The Pathways Alliance has been clear that the interim goals set for our industry must be flexible, realistic and achievable," Kendall Dilling, interim director of the group, said in a statement. CCS involves capturing and permanently sequestering emissions underground, a costly process that the oil and gas sector wants public money to help fund. After months of negotiations Ottawa is expected to announce CCS tax credit in the 2022 budget next week.
Deborah Yedlin, chief executive of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, a business lobby group in the heart of the oil patch, said high commodity prices were likely to be short-lived and accelerated climate targets will require more spending on commercial demonstration projects.