Chile constitution drafters reject mining-adverse proposal

Cecilia Jamasmie | April 22, 2022

Chile’s constitutional drafters have sent back to the drawing board dozens of articles regarding mining, water and environmental rights. (Image courtesy of Chile’s constitutional convention.)

Chile’s constitutional assembly has rejected a proposal from the environmental committee seeking to tighten up rules related to the protection of the country’s natural resources, which would have hit the mining sector if they became law.


Among the changes suggested, there was one granting nature the status of a legal subject with rights, keeping environmental crimes free of any statutes of limitations and extend protections of water sources, glaciers, wetlands and native forest.

The articles had already been toned down amid criticism from miners and analysts concerned about radical proposals such as nationalizing key assets.

Constituents rejected the 52 articles presented by five votes, preventing voting on individual items and returned the entire proposal to the environmental committee for further revision. To make it into the new constitution, each article needs to receive at least 103 out of the 154 possible votes.


This is the second time the committee’s report has been sent back to the drawing board, as the first presentation saw only six of 40 articles approved

Among the approved items there was one that makes it compulsory for the state to deal with a the current climate and ecological crisis and one that grants nature the status of a legal subject with rights, including acknowledging the rights of all animals to be protected from abuses.

“We interpret the vote as a signal in the sense that, in addition to raising environmental standards, it is necessary that there are regulations that provide certainty and stability for the development of mining activity,” Chile’s mining council executive president Joaquín Villarino said in a statement.

Mining has historically been one of the country’s most important economic sectors, with copper representing the lion’s share of the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product. The country also hosts the world’s largest known lithium reserves.

Any major changes affecting the sector could dramatically impact the supply of minerals that are critical for the world’s industrialization and energy transition, the mining sector has warned.

The assembly has until mid-May to approve articles for the draft constitution and until July to have the draft fully completed. Chileans will vote to approve or reject the new constitution on Sept. 4.

POSTMODERN ALCHEMY
Turmeric extract combined with gold helps create greener, more efficient fuel cells

Staff Writer | April 22, 2022 

Turmeric powder. (Image by formulatehealth, Wikimedia Commons).

Curcumin — the substance in turmeric — and gold nanoparticles have been combined to create an electrode that requires 100 times less energy than hydrogen to efficiently convert ethanol into electricity.


According to researchers at the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute and the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, of all the catalysts for alcohol oxidation in alkaline medium that exist, the one they prepared is the best so far. Thus, their finding paves the way for replacing hydrogen as fuel cell feedstock.

Fuel cells generate electricity through a chemical reaction instead of combustion.

Hydrogen fuel cells are highly efficient and do not produce greenhouse gases. While hydrogen is the most common chemical element in the universe, it must normally be derived from fossil fuels because it occurs naturally on earth only in compound form with other elements in liquids, gases or solids.

The necessary extraction adds to hydrogen fuel cells’ cost and environmental impact.

In addition, hydrogen used in fuel cells is a compressed gas, which creates challenges for storage and transportation. Ethanol, an alcohol made from corn or other agricultural-based feeds, is safer and easier to transport than hydrogen because it is a liquid.

“To make it a commercial product where we can fill our tanks with ethanol, the electrodes have to be highly efficient,” Lakshman Ventrapragada, one of the researchers involved in the study, said in a media statement. “At the same time, we don’t want very expensive electrodes or synthetic polymeric substrates that are not eco-friendly because that defeats the whole purpose. We wanted to look at something green for the fuel cell generation process and making the fuel cell itself.”
Mixing a spice with gold

In that search, Ventrapragada and his colleagues focused on the fuel cell’s anode, where the ethanol – or other feed sources – is oxidized.

Fuel cells widely use platinum as a catalyst. But in addition to being costly, platinum suffers from poisoning because of reaction intermediates such as carbon monoxide.

The researchers, thus, used gold as a catalyst and instead of using conducting polymers, metal-organic frameworks, or other complex materials to deposit the gold on the surface of the electrode, they employed curcumin.

Curcumin was used to decorate the gold nanoparticles to stabilize them, forming a porous network around the nanoparticles. The scientists, then, deposited the curcumin gold nanoparticle on the surface of the electrode at a 100 times lower electric current than in previous studies.

Without the curcumin coating, the gold nanoparticles agglomerate, cutting down on the surface area exposed to the chemical reaction.

“We need this coating to stabilize and create a porous environment around the nanoparticles, and then they do a super job with alcohol oxidation,” researcher Apparao Rao said in a media statement.

“There’s a big push in the industry for alcohol oxidation. This discovery is an excellent enabler for that. The next step is to scale the process up and work with an industrial collaborator who can actually make the fuel cells and build stacks of fuel cells for the real application.”

BHP cuts copper output outlook over Chile protests, environmental concerns

Reuters | April 21, 2022 | 

BHP has long pumped water from Atacama’s aquifers to feed operations at its sprawling Escondida mine in Chile. (Image courtesy of Rio Tinto.)

BHP Group Ltd cut its annual copper production outlook on Thursday as operations at its Escondida project in Chile were impacted by labour shortages due to rising covid-19 cases, while road blockades associated with social unrest in the country blocked access to the mine.


Chile, the world’s top copper producer, earlier this month sued BHP, among other miners, over alleged environmental damages caused by its operations in the Atacama salt flats.


The road blockades, threats of work stoppage over alleged worker contract breaches, and surging covid-19 infections at Escondida affected production at the project, which houses the world’s largest copper deposit.

“Our Chilean assets experienced a challenging operating environment in the March 2022 quarter due to a reduction in our operational workforce as a result of a significant increase in covid-19 cases in Chile,” the miner said in its third-quarter production report.

Copper production from Escondida is now expected between 1,000 thousand tonnes (kt) and 1,030 kt for 2022, down from its previous range of 1,020 kt to 1,080 kt, resulting in a slight downgrade to total copper output forecast to between 1,570 kt and 1,620 kt.

The miner has logged 1,112 kt of copper output so far this financial year, down 10% from last year. Its third-quarter iron ore output from Western Australia came in flat from a year ago, and missed consensus estimates.

(By Sameer Manekar; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Peru says 50-day protest lifted at Cuajone mine

Reuters | April 22, 2022 | 

The vast Cuajone mine complex begins with a water supply at Lake Suche at 14,500 feet in the Andes and ends with a smelter on the South Pacific coast. (Image courtesy of Fluor.)

Peru said on Friday a group of indigenous communities had lifted a protest against Southern Copper Corp’s Cuajone mine that had forced a suspension of production for more than 50 days.


The world’s No. 2 producer of copper, Peru had sent its army to restore mine operations, dismissing as “irrational” the financial demands of nearby residents.

Southern Copper has yet to say if it will restart production after the protest suspension.

Unrest spread later to MMG’s giant Las Bambas mine, Peru’s fourth-largest copper mine and the world’s ninth-largest, which has been shut and reopened at least twice this year. The latest suspension was announced this week after residents of the nearby Fuerabamba community entered the mine and set up camp inside of it.

Glencore’s Antapaccay, Peru’s sixth largest copper mine, has also been the target of demonstrators this week, according to local media.

Peru, the world’s second largest producer after Chile, is also a significant silver and zinc supplier.

The mines affected by this week’s protest produced almost 500,000 of copper combined in 2021, with Las Bambas churning out 300,000 tonnes of copper Cuajone another 170,000 tonnes.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Fifth of Peru copper mining goes offline with more shutdowns likely

Bloomberg News | April 20, 2022 |

Pedro Castillo. (Image from Castillo’s Twitter profile)

Sky-high metal prices and accelerating general inflation are fueling another up-tick in resource nationalism and social unrest in Peru, among the top suppliers of copper, zinc and silver.


As of Wednesday, about a fifth of the country’s copper output will be off-line as MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas mine joins Southern Copper Corp.’s Cuajone in succumbing to community protests. At the same time, unions in the mineral-rich Cusco region are staging strikes against rising prices, while residents near a Glencore Plc copper mine are preparing to resume protests.

To be sure, community conflicts are nothing new in Peru and some of the current unrest is more about protecting water supplies than grabbing a bigger share of the mineral spoils.

But having more than one major copper mine down at any one time is unusual, and this time round the mining protests are embedded in more generalized unrest over living costs that has inflamed an already tense political climate under President Pedro Castillo. Since the former rural activist from a Marxist party took office, the number of social conflicts is up about 7%.

With lawmakers discussing measures to appease the population’s pain from the fastest inflation in 24 years, politicians are looking to the mining industry to help foot the bill.

On Tuesday, Pedro Francke, a former Castillo finance minister and moderate left-winger, said more than a $1 billion could be added to state coffers with a modest hike to mining taxes. Others have tapped into the tensions to rekindle calls for more drastic measures. “The nationalization of strategic resources is the cornerstone of a country’s development,” Vladimir Cerron, founder of Castillo’s own party, wrote in a Twitter post.

The president, who has dodged two impeachment attempts since taking office in July, is being criticized by both the mining industry and some community groups.

Southern Peru Chief Financial Officer Raul Jacob said this week that dialog at Cuajone hadn’t advanced much amid “certain passivity” by the government to resolve conflicts.

The industry puts some of the blame for an up-tick in unrest on the administration’s prioritizing the right to protest over other concerns such as free transit. In isolated areas with poor services and infrastructure, mines can become de facto local governments and therefore an easy target for grievances.

But Castillo is having to walk a tight-rope. After softening his tone on resource nationalism to appease more moderate factions, he’s grappled to maintain support of his party’s more hardline factions and the rural voters who put him in power.

Carlos Hanco, youth secretary of the National Coordinator of Gas Users in Cusco, is among leaders pushing for a review of contracts covering natural gas, minerals and water. His grievances are directed both at the government and legislators.

“It is a demand for the Castillo government to fulfill the campaign promises,” Hanco said. “We also demand Congress stop being a coup plotter and work for the needs of the people.”

(By María Cervantes and James Attwood)

Four miners dead, six trapped after tremor in Polish coal mine
Reuters | April 24, 2022 | 

Free empty mine. (Reference image from RawPixel, CC0).

Four miners were killed after a tremor at a coal mine in southern Poland on Saturday and rescuers were still trying to reach six others trapped underground, the mine’s owner JSW said.


“The doctor confirmed the death of two more miners… The tragic balance sheet of yesterday’s high-energy tremor at the mine increased to four people,” JSW said in a statement on Sunday.

The company had earlier announced the deaths of two of the miners.

The tremor shook JSW’s Borynia-Zofiowka mine on Saturday morning. There were 52 workers in the area, 42 got out on their own, and 10 remained underground.

After many hours, rescuers reached four miners late on Saturday but they did not show any signs of life, JSW said earlier.

“The conditions allow us to continue the search for our six colleagues,” JSW Chief Executive Tomasz Cudny told reporters on Sunday.

This is the second accident in a week at a coal mine owned by JSW. Last Wednesday, five people died and seven were trapped in the Pniowek coal mine in southern Poland after an explosion.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who visited the Borynia-Zofiowka mine on Saturday, said that all procedures in both mines will be “thoroughly checked” by a special commission.

(By Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Kim Coghill and Susan Fenton)

Ten missing as second JSW-run coal mine in Poland hit by tremor
Bloomberg News | April 23, 2022 |

Hardhat in a mine. (Image from RawPixel, CC0).

Ten people are missing after an underground tremor and methane gas leak at the Borynia-Zofiowka mine operated by JSW SA, Europe’s biggest coking coal producer.


JSW Chief Executive Officer Tomasz Cudny said in a statement that a rescue operation was underway.

The emergency follows another incident earlier this week at the Pniowek mine, also run by JSW, that left five miners dead and seven missing following repeated methane explosions. The latest accident took place at 3:40 a.m. on Saturday about 900 meters (2,952 feet) underground, with the tremor trapping 10 of the 52 workers in the area.

“The first rescue group reached the excavation where the shock occurred,” Cudny said. The operation is “difficult” because of the atmospheric conditions following the gas leak although there are “no signs indicating ignition or fire.”

JSW shares dropped 14% last week, their worst performance since October 2020.

(By Wojciech Moskwa)

Three miners killed in explosion at Russian mine
Reuters | April 23, 2022 | 

(Reference image by Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company).

Three miners were killed in an explosion at the Gaisky ore mining and processing plant in Russia’s Orenburg region, Russian news agencies quoted the regional prosecutor’s office as saying on Saturday.


The office also said that the remaining 88 people were evacuated.

The Gaisky copper and zinc mine and mill complex, one of Russia’s largest copper mines, is owned by the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company holding. It is located at the far southern tip of the Ural mountains near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan.

(By Lidia Kelly; Editing by Kim Coghill)

MOBI Latam, EnergyX aim to create Bolivian domestic lithium battery supply chain

Staff Writer | April 20, 2022 | 

Bolivia’s Uyuni salt flat. 

(Image by Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons).

Bolivian urban eco-mobility and clean energy startup MOBI and American lithium and battery company Energy Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) have partnered to work towards creating a Bolivian domestic lithium battery supply chain to develop the region’s electric mobility market.


Bolivia has 9 million tonnes of identified lithium resources buried beneath its salt flats, the largest being the Salar de Uyuni, yet the country has had barely any production of lithium chemicals.

The South American nation has been working towards creating the world’s first sustainable lithium economy capable of producing and processing the metal for domestic and international needs, the companies said in the media statement, adding that the partnership between MOBI and EnergyX aims to take the country one step closer to becoming a green energy superpower.

MOBI, founded in 2020, closed the largest ever seed round for a startup in Bolivia at $1.38 million off a $5 million valuation, and has a fleet of electric scooters, bikes, mopeds and e-bikes.

EnergyX is integrated into the lithium industry’s supply chains from brine to battery, and will provide MOBI work on developing a next generation SoLiS battery for MOBI’s fleet.

This partnership, the company said, will see EnergyX’s direct source of lithium and batteries help MOBI fleet and swap stations by creating a domestic brine to battery ecosystem within Bolivia.

EnergyX was founded in Austin, Texas in 2018 and currently has over 50 patents focused on creating more efficient and sustainable lithium extraction processes, as well as lithium batteries for electric vehicles and grid-scale renewable energy storage.

RELATED: Lithium mining: ‘A new Bolivia’, says EnergyX CEO

EnergyX is currently building its Innovation Labs in Austin, Texas, and is scaling up its operations after raising $20 million in funding and deploying their first LiTAS direct lithium extraction plants to Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni.

“Latin America has the capacity to become a global powerhouse in electric micro-mobility, and we believe Bolivia can be the leader of this transition,” MOBI CEO Ariel Revollo said in a news release.

“With domestic lithium supply chains being developed, continued infrastructure improvements and the people’s demand for local sustainable solutions, Bolivia has all the hallmarks of a country on the verge of an economic boom,” he said.

This partnership is one step towards developing the local micro-mobility market and helping create a domestic innovation pipeline that integrates Bolivia’s lithium, manufacturing, and transportation,” EnergyX Director of Bolivia, Mario Gianella said.

“We are working on integrating global lithium supply chains from brine to battery, and this partnership with MOBI reflects this.”

New tech will free cheaper, cleaner lithium supply – report

Frik Els | April 21, 2022 

99.9% lithium. Stock image.

Elon Musk’s worries about nickel are well-documented and in an earnings call Wednesday, Tesla’s CEO added lithium to his list of raw material concerns. Battery production – more specifically lithium – is the “fundamental limiting factor” for electric vehicle adoption worldwide, Musk told investors:


“We think we’re going to need to help the industry on this front.

“I’d certainly encourage entrepreneurs out there who are looking for opportunities to get into the lithium business. Lithium margins right now are practically software margins.”

Musk is not alone in fretting about the market as lithium prices surge and demand from the electric vehicle market shows no sign of moderating, but a recent report by consulting firm McKinsey argues worries about a shortfall may be overblown.

While lithium demand is skyrocketing – from an estimated 500,000 tonnes in 2021 to as much as 3.8 million tonnes by the end of the decade – new sources and new technologies will be enough to supply the market, McKinsey says.

RELATED: Mexico nationalizes lithium mining

The consulting firm says alongside conventional lithium supply, which is expected to grow by over 300% through 2030, direct lithium extraction (DLE) and direct lithium to product (DLP) “can be the driving forces behind the industry’s ability to respond more swiftly to soaring demand.”

In addition to filling supply gaps DLE and DLP could also reduce the industry’s environmental, social, and governance footprint, and lower costs by boosting recovery and capacity, McKinsey says.

Mckinsey acknowledges DLE is still in its infancy and of the five types of technologies only adsorption processes are already in commercial use, but DLE has several benefits including eliminating or reducing the size of evaporation ponds, less fresh water use, decreased production times, and increased recoveries from 40% for traditional brine operations to over 80%.

DLE, DLP and DSO

While geothermal and oil waste-water brines with grades of 100 to 200 parts per million will play a role in future supply with carmakers Renault, Stellantis and General Motors are already invested in early stage geothermal projects, any short term supply shocks could also be mitigated by direct shipping ore (DSO) which happened in 2018, when lithium prices previously spiked.

As for secondary supply, McKinsey says with expected battery lifetimes of around 10 to 15 years for passenger vehicles coupled with the possibility of extending EV battery life through use in the energy-storage sector, battery recycling is expected to only represent some 6% of total supply in 2030.

According to the report, in 2020, more than 90% of all lithium production occurred in just three countries: Australia, Chile and China, but new supply could come from places like Mexico, Canada, USA, Ukraine and Bolivia, with recently mapped reserves and also regions not usually associated with the battery raw material including Thailand, UK, Peru and Siberia.

Lithium prices cool

Lithium prices took a breather during the first half of April as lockdowns in China made trading difficult, but Benchmark Mineral Intelligence says that for chemical processors and battery manufacturers, the lull is unlikely to last.

The mid-April assessment by Benchmark shows battery grade lithium carbonate (EXW China, ≥99.5% Li2CO3) averaging $78,350 a tonne. That’s down just under 1% over two weeks. In April last year it was trading around $15,000 a tonne.

Prices for lithium hydroxide, used in batteries with high-nickel cathodes, continue to rise. Hydroxide historically trades at a premium to carbonate and has been playing catch up – the gap is now down to around $400 a tonne, from nearly $10,000 in February.

Benchmark says the slight downtrend in carbonate pricing “was not indicative of a wider market correction, but rather a temporary pause as a result of covid lockdowns in China, with expectations that prices will continue to increase in May if virus measures are eased.”

Head of Mexico City government compares lithium nationalization to that of oil 84 years ago

Staff Writer | April 24, 2022 |

Claudia Sheinbaum, head of the government of Mexico City.

 (Image by the CDMX government, Twitter).

Following the nationalization of the lithium industry approved by the country’s Senate on April 21, Claudia Sheinbaum, head of the government of Mexico City, said during a public speech over the weekend that the decision is comparable to the nationalization of the oil industry approved during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas, 84 years ago.


“What did President Lázaro Cárdenas do in 1938? He nationalized oil. For what? So that oil was used for the well-being of the Mexican people and so that foreign companies would not take it away,” Sheinbaum said. “Well, what President López Obrador did is similar to what General Lázaro Cárdenas did: he gave lithium back to Mexicans.”

The government official said that prior to the approval of the new law, lithium deposits could be privatized and that many foreign mining companies would take it and give very little in return.

Sheinbaum also said that the opposition MPs who voted against the initiative betrayed their country, while those who voted for it are “nationalists committed to their country.”

The new law elevates lithium to the category of “strategic mineral,” declaring the exploration, exploitation, and use of lithium to be the exclusive right of the state. It also includes a clause allowing the state to take charge of “other minerals declared strategic” by Mexico.

Since the bill was passed, 90 days started running for the executive to create a new, decentralized body to deal with all lithium-related matters, which means that no new concessions, permits or contracts will be granted.

When announcing the approval, López Obrador said his administration will review all lithium contracts, which casts a shadow of doubt over projects already being developed in the country, including the one held by Bacanora Lithium (LON: BCN) in the country’s northwest.

Mexico nationalizes lithium mining

Cecilia Jamasmie | April 21, 2022 

Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 

(Image courtesy of Mexican President’s Office.)

Mexico has officially nationalized its lithium industry after the Senate approved by 87 votes in favour, 20 against and 16 abstentions the mining reform proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which gives the state exclusive rights over the battery metal.


The law, which came into force on Thursday, was approved in record time — only two days after introduced by López Obrador to Congress.

The bill elevates lithium to the category of “strategic mineral”, declaring the exploration, exploitation, and use of lithium to be the exclusive right of the state. It also includes a clause allowing the state to take charge of “other minerals declared strategic” by Mexico.

The executive has now 90 days to create a new, decentralized body to deal with all lithium-related matters.

Since taking power in 2018, López Obrador has fought to reverse resource reforms under previous governments, which opened up the oil and electricity sectors to private investment. He has pushed a resource exploitation model that gives priority to state-controlled companies.

The President said his administration will review all lithium contracts, which casts a shadow of doubt over projects already being developed in the country, including the one held by Bacanora Lithium (LON: BCN) in the country’s northwest. The company, owned by China’s Genfeng Lithium, owns the giant Sonora project, which is slated to produce 35,000 tonnes of the metal per year starting in 2023.

Bacanora has been building a 35,000 tonnes per annum battery grade lithium operation in Mexico’s Sonora state.

 (Image courtesy of Bacanora Lithium.)

The law would likely bring trade tensions with the country’s northern neighbours as it is said to violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Kenneth Smith Ramos, who headed technical negotiations for the now defunct North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), told local media that declaring lithium a strategic mineral is an issue as lithium was not designated as such when the three nations signed the accord.

The Mexican Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists said in a statement that “clays containing lithium have been located” in the country. “To the best of our knowledge, no country has produced and commercialized lithium from clays,” it added.

Most of the world’s current lithium output is locked away in long term deals as downstream chemicals producers, battery makers and electric vehicles makers are frantically trying to secure future supply.

Mexico’s reserves of the sought-after metal positions it in the 10th place among the world’s top producers, data from the US Geological Survey shows.

B.C. First Nation chief leads call to investigate RBC for allegedly misleading the public on climate change

In an application to Canada's Competition Bureau, a group of environmentalists are calling for RBC to end its financing of fossil fuels and stop "deceiving the public."

Stefan Labbé

NORTH SHORE NEWS
Apr 21, 2022

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is the largest bank in Canada and the biggest banking financier of fossil fuel projects, according to a recent report. The Chief staff

The leader of a B.C. First Nation has joined a group of environmentalists calling for an investigation into the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) for allegedly making false and misleading representations about action on climate change.

In an application to Canada’s Competition Bureau, Kukpi7 Judy Wilson — secretary-treasurer at the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and chief of the Skat'sin te Secwepemc-Neskonlith Indian Band — joined five other individuals calling for RBC to end its financing of fossil fuels and stop “deceiving the public.”

“Climate change disproportionately impacts Indigenous peoples around the world as well as here in Canada,” said Wilson in a written statement.

“Until RBC stops financing fossil fuels, advertising itself as Paris Agreement-aligned is greenwashing — and it shouldn't be tolerated.”

RBC is among the top five banking financiers of fossil fuel projects in the world, and the biggest in Canada, according to a report produced earlier this year.

The report, which surveyed 60 banks around the world, found RBC had increased its investments in fossil fuel projects to nearly $38 billion from over $19 billion in 2020.

In a statement to Glacier Media, RBC spokesperson Rafael Ruffolo says the bank "strongly disagrees with the allegations" and believes the complaint to be unfounded.

"RBC has been engaging with our clients, partners and other stakeholders, working towards solutions to help Canada meet its net-zero commitments," Ruffolo wrote. "It’s critically important that we get the transition to net-zero right in order to address climate change and we have laid out a clear strategy for meeting climate goals."
Fossil fuel financing flouts climate promises, claims application

The application is the latest salvo from environmental groups and UBCIC against RBC and other of fossil fuel investors. In February 2021, UBCIC passed a resolution calling on Canadian banks "to cease funding the climate crisis and Indigenous rights violations."

Four months later, the International Energy Agency, long a public policy arm of the fossil fuel industry, dropped a landmark report calling for a near-immediate end to the construction of new oil and gas projects.

“RBC represents that it supports action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and address climate change, but is taking action to increase emissions and exacerbate climate change by providing tens of billions of dollars annually in financing for fossil fuel development and expansion,” states the application to the Competition Bureau.

As a result, the group claims it is misleading the public to promote RBC’s reputation and attract or maintain clients concerned about climate change.

The application focuses on two claims made by RBC.

The first centres around marketing claims that the bank “supports the principles of the Paris Agreement and the international goal to hold global warming to below 2 C” and so is committed to achieving net-zero emissions in its lending by 2050 and net-zero emission in its global operations annually.

The application to the Competition Bureau says this is misleading because RBC continues to heavily invest in industries actively working against a clear path to a 2 C warming target. At the same time, it alleges RBC has no credible plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions going forward.

Wilson and the five other complainants also argue against RBC's claim that it will provide “$500 billion in sustainable financing by 2025.” The problem, says the group, is RBC's definition of sustainable financing is not pinned to reducing emissions.

In one example, they point to $2 billion in “sustainability-linked” loans to the pipeline company Enbridge.

Should the Commissioner of the Competition Bureau find RBC made false and leading representations to the public, the complaint calls for all such material to be scrubbed from public viewing until it lives up to zero-emission and “sustainable financing” promises.

And in a second penalty, they call on the bank to pay a $10-million fine to the Environmental Damages Fund.

The group, which includes Wet’suwet’en land defender Eve Saint among other environmentalists, has received support from the legal environmental advocacy group Ecojustice and the non-profit Stand.Earth.

The application comes a month after several high-profile actors, directors, professional athletes and musicians waded into the conversation.

In March, dozens of Hollywood celebrities led by actor Mark Ruffalo signed the ‘No More Dirty Banks’ petition calling on RBC to stop financing fossil fuel projects — such as the $6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have opposed the pipeline for several years, maintaining blockades to prevent construction. While 20 First Nations elected chiefs and councils along the pipeline route have approved the project, the hereditary chiefs say their authority is limited to reserves created under the Indian Act. Traditional lands on unceded territory, they say, remains under their authority.

Not the Competition Bureau's first case of alleged 'greenwashing'

Canada’s Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency set up to protect and promote competitive business practices. But this isn't the first time it has been asked to go after 'greenwashing.'

Following a global report in January that found 40 per cent of companies make misleading environmental claims, the bureau warned Canadians to be on the lookout for the practice.

“It can take many forms, including claims, adjectives, colours and symbols used to create an impression that a product or service is ‘greener’ than it really is,” said the bureau in a statement at the time.

“If a company claims a product or service is ‘green’, take a moment to reflect on that claim.”

The bureau has had success in the past. In one victory against greenwashing earlier this year, the Competition Bureau reached an agreement with Keurig Canada to pay a $3-million penalty after it made false and misleading environmental claims.

The case centred around the coffee company telling consumers — through social media, its website and directly on product packaging — that its single-use K-Cup pods were recyclable. The bureau found B.C. and Quebec were the only provinces where municipal recycling programs widely accepted the coffee pods.

Keurig Canada was also found to have made false or misleading claims by giving consumers the impression they could recycle the pods by peeling off the lid and dumping out the grounds.

In addition to the $3-million penalty, Keurig Canada was forced to pay for the cost of the bureau’s $85,000 investigation and donate $800,000 to a Canadian environmental charity.

The company is no longer permitted to make the bogus claims on its packaging, online or in news media.

CARNIVORE CULTURE
'A visionary and cowboy': This man founded The Keg restaurant chain in North Vancouver

As the massive brand celebrates 50 years slinging drinks and steaks, here's a look at how it all started in a little Lower Lonsdale restaurant with big energy.

Andy Prest
2 days ago

Today it is an international powerhouse brand, a restaurant synonymous with big steak dinners and milestone celebrations at more than 150 locations across Canada and the United States.

But half a century ago it was a small diner in the bottom floor of an old industrial building in North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood.

George Tidball, described as “a visionary and a cowboy” in a 2014 obituary, opened the Keg ‘n Cleaver restaurant in 1971 at 132 Esplanade West in North Vancouver. That location is no longer there – in fact, North Vancouver is now one of the largest Lower Mainland municipalities without a Keg restaurant – but the casual fine dining vibe that Keg diners know today was created in that little space in North Vancouver.

“It was a very unique concept at the time, because there was hotel dining and then there was White Spot and McDonalds, and nothing in between,” said Tidball’s daughter Kathy Robbins, who worked various jobs in the Keg chain before becoming a kindergarten teacher. Robbins was 19 years old at the time the first Keg opened, and she remembers it as a place that had good food and great energy.

“What I recall mainly is The Keg was a huge party place,” she said with a laugh. “There was as much alcohol as you could possibly drink, and as much food as you could eat, and all the young people working there were university students, so it had the energy level. Like, it just vibrated.”

Cheap drinks and singing servers

In the early days of The Keg, Tidball took a meeting with famed restaurater Hy Aisenstat, founder of the Hy’s Steakhouse chain, and came away with a useful piece of advice.

“Hy said if you’re going to do cheap drinks, make them really cheap,” said Robbins, adding that her dad put that into practice in the early days of The Keg. “The drinks were 60 cents, and the special drinks like martinis or Spanish coffees were a buck.”

The original Keg ‘n Cleaver location had around 120 seats, and staff prided themselves on turning over those tables as quickly as possible, said Robbins. She recalls the restaurant humming along as a well-oiled machine on busy weekend nights.

“The busboys used to have competitions to see how many tables they could clear, and the hostesses would try to seat people as soon as the last setting was put down,” said Robbins. “It was just geared for high volume, high energy entertainment. … You wanted a job at The Keg. You made great money, great tips. There were a lot of people that made their way through university working at The Keg.”

Servers were sometimes known to finish off a guest’s leftover highball, or make someone’s uneaten chunk of steak disappear on the way back to the kitchen, said Robbins about those early North Vancouver days. The restaurant also often filled with song, as staff members serenaded guests celebrating milestones, sometimes even tying people to their chairs and hoisting them into the air, said Robbins.

“There didn’t seem to be as many rules,” she said with a laugh. “I think the people that they hired were really important – they were very energetic people. … It was just a really fun place to be. That's what I remember more than anything. And the food was always really good.”

50th anniversary menu honours the past

Tidball’s run as owner came to end in the 1980s when he sold The Keg to U.K.-based company Whitbred. In the 1990s, the chain changed hands again, with David Aisenstat, Hy’s son, acquiring The Keg and beefing it up into the brand it is today.

To celebrate their anniversary, The Keg is now featuring a limited-time menu inspired by some of the favourite dishes of the past 50 years. The menu includes classics such as The Keg’s Pecan Sirloin, Salmon Neptune, Crab Parmesan Spinach Dip, and Mile High Chocolate Cake, as well as some newly created items like the 14-ounce French Onion Ribeye.

“The Keg has held a unique place in Canadians' lives since it first opened its doors, and we found that for many, celebrations at The Keg were a rite of passage,” said Jimmy duDomaine, The Keg’s vice-president of marketing and food services. “With our 50th anniversary menu, we wanted to celebrate where we’ve been and where we intend on going.”

It’s neat to see the chain that her father started in the early 1970s still going strong today, said Robbins.

“It's amazing, isn't it? Because longevity in the restaurant business is unusual,” she said, adding that she can definitely see her father’s personality mirrored in the makeup of the restaurant chain. “He was a charmer. … I remember once one of the managers at The Keg was talking to him, and he said, ‘You know, George, I really appreciate that you always talk to the little people.’ And my dad said, ‘Rod, there are no little people. They're just people.’ He had a rapport with the dishwashers, with the busboys, with the waiters, with management. He just really loved being around people, and I think that really showed through.”