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Executives of some of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies are expected to testify before a parliamentary committee Thursday afternoon about their efforts to reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.
CEOs and senior executives from Cenovus Energy Inc., Enbridge Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd., Shell Canada Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. are slated to appear by videoconference before the House of Commons standing committee on environment and sustainable development.
Their appearance follows an April motion by NDP environment critic Laurel Collins, who called on the executives to appear before the committee to explain their companies’ impact on climate change.
On Thursday, Collins said Canadians are concerned about the growing number of extreme weather events such as wildfire, drought and “heat domes” as the climate warms.
Some Canadian oil and gas companies made record profits in 2022 as commodity prices soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the industry continues to generate healthy cash flows this year. Collins said companies can and should do more to mitigate the impact of the fossil fuel sector on the climate.
“We need an excess profit tax (on the oil and gas sector) to invest in climate solutions,” she told reporters.
The oil and gas sector is Canada’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for almost a third of the country’s total emissions, and they continue to rise, largely because of increased production from Alberta’s oilsands.
The federal government has proposed a legislated cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector, something the industry opposes.
Major oilsands companies have committed to getting to net-zero emissions by 2050, but have not yet made a final investment decision on their proposed joint-venture emissions-reducing carbon capture and storage project.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CVE; TSX:ENB; TSX:IMO; TSX:SU)
Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press
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