Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Expert, Green MP have mixed feelings on budget's climate change initiatives

Carbon capture tax credit will delay 'the kind of significant transformation we need' — Green MP

CBC News · Posted: Apr 08, 2022 

Federal budget’s promise to fund carbon capture draws mixed reaction

Duration2:02 The Liberal plan to incentivize companies that invest in carbon-capture technology was met with applause from Alberta’s oil and gas industry, but some environmental advocates say the money could’ve been better spent on a faster transition to green energy. 

The 2022 federal budget contains billions in new spending to fight climate change, but some experts and Green MP for Kitchener-Centre are criticizing the government's decision on a tax credit for carbon capture.

Some of the highlights from Thursday's budget, tabled by finance minister Chrystia Freeland, include plans to make electric vehicles more affordable and create Canada's first strategy to develop exploitation of critical minerals used in everything from phones to airplanes.

The government is also committing to $2.6 billion over five years for a new investment tax credit for businesses that spend money on carbon capture, utilization and storage.

That aspect of the budget is concerning for Simon Dalby, a professor of geography and environmental studies at Wilfrid Laurier University and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

"I'm less keen on the tax credits for the carbon capture and storage because given the amount of money that the oil sector is making, particularly at the moment with the high oil prices, the last thing that we need to do is subsidise them," he told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo.

"The point is that if they are using fuel in a way that is putting lots of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, well, they should be paying to clean up their own mess."

Overall, he welcomes the government's investments to combat climate change, but he's critical of the government's recent approval of a deep water oil drilling project.

Scientists want Ottawa to scrap carbon capture tax credit

"I do think that we have reached a point where the government is actually getting serious about this. It's not just talking about it," Dalby said.

"But then every time we appear to be getting serious about climate change, we get another announcement that one more fossil fuel production system has been okayed. The latest one simply being for the oil field of Newfoundland coast."
Carbon capture tax 'not a climate solution'

Kitchener Centre Green MP Mike Morrice is also critical of the carbon capture tax credit.

"It's a mixed bag," Morrice said when asked whether the budget put enough emphasis on environmental issues.

He said there are some good initiatives in this year's budget, like more investments in electrical vehicles and Via Rail, but points to climate scientists who say that the carbon capture tax credit is "not a climate solution."

"Carbon capture is really going to encourage prolonging, delaying, the kind of significant transformation we need," Morrice said.

In January, more than 400 Canadian climate scientists and other academics called for Freeland to scrap her plan to create the carbon capture tax credit, saying it directly contradicts Canada's pledge to eliminate such subsidies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Federal budget 2022: Here are the highlights

"It's about scale. When you give $400 million to retrofitting homes, which is so important, it's completely dwarfed by the $2.6 billion to oil and gas companies in carbon capture," Morrice said.

The budget also comes just as Canada announced its plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions over the next eight years.

In an effort to cut emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, the government plans to make cuts in the electricity, oil and gas and transportation sectors.

"The only target that matters is 1.5 C, that's the maximum rise in global temperatures that climate scientists have told us we need to hold on to for a livable world. We already hit 1.1 C," Morrice said.

He said the government should be aiming for a 60 per cent reduction by 2030.


THE REALITY IS THAT CCS IS NOT GREEN NOR CLEAN IT IS GOING TO BE USED TO FRACK OLD DRY WELLS SUCH AS IN THE BAKAN SHIELD IN SASKATCHEWAN
Federal budget boosts electric vehicles, but Trudeau says nuclear power ‘on the table’

By Elizabeth McSheffrey 
 Global News
Posted April 11, 2022



While Canada has set a lofty goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there are questions over how we get there. During a stop in B.C. Monday, the Prime Minister says one of the options is increasing nuclear power. As John Hua reports, it's just one of several energy sources that'll be needed to power the move toward going fully electric.

Ottawa’s latest budget may give a boost to electric vehicle ownership in Canada, but the prime minister says nuclear power is “on the table” as part of the country’s clean energy transition.

Justin Trudeau made the comments Monday at a news conference in Victoria, during which he touted new and expanded green investments in last week’s federal budget.

“As we get off oil and gas, we’re going to need more electricity and I know there are a lot of brilliant innovators here in B.C. and across the country who are leaning in on that,” he told the crowd.

“We’re there to invest in a range of pathways so that we can make sure we’re not just protecting the planet but creating a strong and growing economy for years to come.”

2:17 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes clean vehicle announcement in B.C.

READ MORE: Trudeau says Canada needs to do ‘more, even faster’ with electric vehicles

The 2022 budget both expands the availability of zero-emission electric vehicles and charging stations, in addition to incentives for purchasing them.

The federal government plans to extend a current program that offers electric vehicle buyers up to $5,000 to help with purchases and will introduce mandatory sales targets that require 20 per cent of all vehicles sold by 2026 to be electric.

The sales target program will expand over the coming years, said Trudeau, with 60 per cent of vehicle sales being electric by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.

Ottawa will also invest $400 million over five years to expand charging infrastructure.

Asked by Global News, however, whether Canada’s path to meeting its domestic and international emissions targets includes nuclear power, Trudeau said, “Nuclear is on the table, absolutely.”

1:20Trudeau outlines new climate plan, including cuts to oil and gas emissions – Mar 29, 2022

While the prime minister did not elaborate, the comments are encouraging to Taco Niet, as assistant professor at Simon Fraser University’s School of Sustainable Engineering

Climate modelling by the school’s Delta E Plus Research Group has recently suggested B.C. can’t build enough hydroelectric dams to meet both its commitment, and Ottawa’s, to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The province currently gets about 20 per cent of its energy from electricity, Niet explained, and in order to meet the targets, just about everything would need to be electrified, including transportation, homes and industry operations. That could take the equivalent of between 20 and 30 additional Site C Dams, he added.

“It’s a massive challenge,” he told Global News. “From an engineering perspective, we don’t want to eliminate any options because it sounds bad or solar panels have runoff of bad chemicals when we build them.”

READ MORE: Global demand for electric cars sparks opportunity for Canada’s mining sector. Here’s why

Nuclear technology has improved substantially over the years, Niet noted, and governments must consider a suite of options, and the current available technology as they chart a course toward clean energy. He said he hopes a major breakthrough in fusion energy is on the horizon, but decision-makers cannot afford to wait for one.

“One of the things with nuclear that’s interesting as well is the fact that it produces heat, and a lot of our challenges are industrial heat, so there might be a really interesting synergy there.”

As it stands, about 15 per cent of Canada’s electricity comes from nuclear energy, with 18 reactors in Ontario and one in New Brunswick, according to Natural Resources Canada.

With files from The Canadian Press
Transportation Safety Board investigates natural gas release from northern Alberta pipeline

By Caley Gibson Global News
Posted April 8, 2022
TC Energy investigates a natural gas release at a site near Fox Creek, Alta., Thursday, April 7, 2022. Courtesy, TC Energy

Share This Item On TwitterSend This Page To Someone Via EmShare This ItemDescrease article font In

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it has deployed a team of investigators to a northern Alberta pipeline site following a natural gas release.


The TSB said Friday morning a release and ignition of natural gas took place from a Nova Gas Transmission Limited pipeline near Fox Creek. It happened at about 4 a.m. Thursday in a very remote area about 80 kilometres west of Fox Creek, according to TC Energy.

The Canadian Energy Regulator said Thursday afternoon a fire was observed in the area but it was extinguished.

TC Energy said it activated its emergency management and response procedures after a natural gas release on its eight-inch Simonette Lateral natural gas pipeline on the Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. system.

“We have the pipeline isolated and are working with affected customers. There are no reported injuries to our workers or members of the public,” TC Energy said.

“TC Energy technical experts and emergency management personnel are actively responding and working closely with federal and local authorities to ensure an effective and coordinated response. Air monitoring has been established at the site for the ongoing safety of personnel and contractors accessing the area.”

The company said it notified regulatory agencies, local responders and nearby Indigenous communities, municipalities and industrial operators as a precaution.

“We continue to take steps to protect the safety of the public and our employees, and to minimize any impacts in the immediate area.”

Fox Creek is located about 250 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.




This Company Is Launching Indigenous-Branded Crypto Carbon Credits. It’s Greenwash, Critics Say.

“This ‘initiative’ is greenwash, topped with more greenwash, garnished with blockchain,” said one expert.

By Luke Ottenhof
4.4.22

A Canadian company plans to sell crypto tokens to offset carbon emissions that it claims will be created in partnership with First Nations.


As the climate crisis worsens, carbon emitters aren’t planning to cut their production. Instead, they’re looking for opportunities to offset it, and carbon credits—tradable units of carbon emissions—offer a low-maintenance way to balance their carbon accounting while continuing business as usual. Carbon credits are typically produced by reducing or preventing emissions in one sector or business. For example, if a new technology reduces energy used or emissions produced in agriculture or oil and gas refinement, the saved emissions can be calculated and turned into a carbon credit. The business can then sell those "reductions" to companies who emit a lot, and who can use the reductions to shrink their net emissions on paper.

But the voluntary carbon market is mostly unregulated, and no international guidelines exist for the creation and validity of carbon credits. This means individual firms get to define their own carbon credits. Blockchain technology and NFTs add another wrinkle to this scenario.

Calgary company Delta CleanTech, a carbon-capture tech wing of natural gas purification company HTC Extraction Systems, wants to meet this new demand, which is why it's launching a new project: carbon credits on the blockchain that it claims are produced in collaboration with First Nations communities in Canada.

But no official First Nations partnerships are confirmed, and experts worry that these types of voluntary carbon credits—blockchain or not—will further enable rather than mitigate the climate crisis.

Delta CleanTech is calling these “First Nations ESG tokens.” ESG stands for environmental, social, and corporate governance, and is a corporate responsibility movement that over the past 17 years has ballooned into an estimated $30 trillion investment industry. The firm intends to mint its tokens on a blockchain for trade and sale in the voluntary carbon credit market. And it has big expectations: A PR email sent to Motherboard indicated the intent to sell the first tokens to “5 or 6 recognised Fortune 500 companies, like a Disney or a Google."


Lionel Kambeitz, founder of Delta CleanTech and its carbon credit validation tech company Carbon RX, has been involved in the carbon credit market since 2006. Kambeitz is also chairman of the KF Group of companies, which presides over 70,000 acres of farmland in Western Canada. Kambeitz Farms' website notes that the family got its first 160 acres under the Homestead Act of Canada.

He said that Delta wants to partner with First Nations via Carbon RX to develop carbon credits from each nation’s activities, including agricultural, forestry, or fossil fuel industry endeavors. Currently, there are no international rules governing the creation and validation of voluntary market carbon credits, and each company can create their own.

“We identify the carbon credits that would be possible to be harvested on their lands and we sign a joint venture with them, and at that point the carbon credits that are harvested on their lands, they’re first of all originated by our organization, and they’re validated,” said Kambeitz. “We get these credits certified and we then enter them onto a digital database or a blockchain to be able to have security and credibility. That becomes a tradable carbon token.”

Kambeitz said that Carbon RX and First Nations partners would both own carbon credit tokens, and that Carbon RX would sell these credits to Fortune 500 companies “who are after a complete ESG Carbon Solution. Environmental with the carbon credits, Social with the Social License of the First Nations, and Governance utilizing a digital database and Governance as prescribed by the First Nations.”

The websites for Delta CleanTech and Carbon RX don’t detail these tokens or processes for making them, and Kambeitz didn’t respond to inquiries about what blockchain would be used or by what process the tokens would be minted.

Kambeitz said the blockchain offers a more secure and less costly method of recording transactions. One of the key pieces, he said, is “to be able to help First Nations create economic sovereignty and independence, and help First Nations create their contribution to the environment.” Kambeitz said once they’re created, each nation could determine whether they want to sell or keep the tokens. “If the First Nations wish to sell the tokens when they’re created, we will give them an opportunity to do that,” said Kambeitz, and that “80 percent plus” of the net revenues for the tokens will be “awarded” to First Nations.

When asked which First Nations the initiative had partnered with, Kambeitz cited only Reginald Bellerose, former chief of Muskowekwan First Nation in Saskatchewan. Bellerose collaborated on land leases and development with Lionel and the Kambeitz family for a decade while he was chief. Now, he will serve as chairman of “a First Nations executive council” for Carbon RX, and said they intend to create a council of advisors and elders that “will be populated in the coming while.”

“You have the Western science, you have the PhDs, you have the business, so we want to balance that with the First Nations worldview,” Bellerose said in an interview.

Bellerose said Muskowekwan is “definitely interested” in participating, but said the main opportunity was to take the program across the country. “The goal would be to work to secure as much First Nations land as possible, and then incorporate First Nations worldview through the elders,” said Bellerose. The First Nations councils would carry Carbon RX’s messaging to communities, while the business side, run by Kambeitz, would court emitters to buy their tokens. Bellerose said benefits for the communities would vary based on industry, but that given there is never enough revenue for nations from their own projects, the agreements would “positively impact First Nations.”

Bellerose could not confirm any community partnerships, and Kambeitz said he could not disclose specifics.

Still, Kambeitz added that he was “pleased with the quality of the First Nations leadership... This really is resonating with First Nations because they want to fully contribute to the climate change solution.”

Researchers and policy analysts who study carbon markets and the climate crisis that Motherboard spoke to say carbon credits in general are complex and range in value depending on how they’re created, but that this particular endeavor seems dubious.

Polly Hemming, an advisor at an independent Australian public policy think tank who specializes in carbon markets and greenwashing, called the project “a hot mess” in an email, citing the amount of jargon on Delta’s website among all of its various projects.

“It’s borderline nonsensical,” wrote Hemming. “If you can’t clearly describe the climate benefits of your project, then it’s likely you’re hiding something. This ‘initiative’ is greenwash, topped with more greenwash, garnished with blockchain.”

Kambeitz doesn’t see it that way, citing a “carbon currency” as a necessary step towards more sustainability.

“If we look at where we are today to where we want to be tomorrow in a renewable world, we need a bridging solution and one of the bridging solutions is a carbon currency,” said Kambeitz in response to greenwashing criticisms. “These are the incentives we need. You can’t tax your way out of this with a carbon tax.”

Lauren Gifford, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Arizona who studies how companies financialize the environment as a means of governing it, first noticed the creation of blockchain-linked carbon credits in 2016, a trend that is growing more popular with carbon credit NFT projects like SavePlanetEarth, which purports to create credits by tree planting but has come under fire for its carbon accounting.

“All of this stuff is people who are seeking to accumulate wealth through this process,” said Gifford, adding that blockchain doesn’t clear up the fundamental issue of unregulated carbon markets with unclear or variable standards and protocols. “People don’t even know what’s going on.”

According to Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action and member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, carbon markets are part of a continuing history of exploiting Indigenous communities in Canada.

“Canada has a deep history of not wanting to share royalties or direct revenues with Indigenous communities with respect to resources,” Deranger said. “Carbon markets have become one of those things.”

However, she said that she's skeptical of the many projects in Canada—for example, those run by the government and resource extraction companies—that tout First Nations involvement without deeply involving those communities in decision-making.

"It's just a redwashing tactic that allows it to look like they're the ones that are doing something good for the communities when the government has failed and we all applaud them as if that's a good thing but the reality is, why are we not pushing back on the government and saying why are you still allowing this to happen?" she said.

Deranger cautioned that carbon markets under the United Nations’ forestry protection and emissions reduction program REDD+ in countries in the global south amounted to Indigenous displacement from their land rather than protection or financial benefit. She worried that like that program, carbon credits that promise economic prosperity are doing so under coercive terms, since communities that have been abandoned and impoverished by the Canadian state aren’t in a position to give “good consent.”

“It’s the same tactic they came into our communities with for treaty negotiations, for oil and gas extraction, for deforestation, promising trinkets and baubles and employment that has not really resulted in a lot,” said Deranger. “We need to do our homework, and we need to not accept face value financial promises from people that have no connection to our cultures, our lands or territories, and ways of life.”

Deranger added that she reserved no judgment for communities that participate in the carbon market. “Any chief or nation that signs onto these agreements are not sellouts or idiots,” she said. “They are people that are trying to do what’s best for their communities because they see the suffering, they see the poverty, and the government and society have turned a blind eye to that.”


THE REALITY IS THAT CCS IS NOT GREEN NOR CLEAN IT IS GOING TO BE USED TO FRACK OLD DRY WELLS SUCH AS IN THE BAKAN SHIELD IN SASKATCHEWAN
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-myth-of-carbon-capture-and-storage.html

ALSO SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CCS

 

The first heat pump for domestic use with zero carbon dioxide emissions

The first heat pump for domestic use with zero carbon dioxide emissions
Credit: Universitat Politècnica de València

"It is the first domestic commercial unit with zero direct and indirect emissions. Currently, there are already units that use the same technology as ours, which is aerothermal energy, but they do not use a natural fluid such as propane in it. For this reason, our pump can heat homes being totally respectful with the environment, without emitting carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Furthermore, its high energy efficiency allows it to be classified as renewable energy, by pumping energy from the environment," underlines José Gonzálvez, Director of the Thermal area at the University Institute for Research in Energy Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de València.

Among its advantages, the  developed by the UPV and Saunier Duval can also generate hot water for heating at temperatures of up to 75ºC with very high energy efficiency, something that is not possible with conventional heat pumps. Additionally, it can be installed not only in newly built buildings, but also to replace gas boilers in existing buildings. And it also allows the application of anti-legionella treatment without requiring external support.

The unit is  (A+++), so for each kWh of electricity consumed, it produces 6.48 kWh of heating for the home. Regarding the production of domestic hot water, for each electrical kWh consumed, it generates 4.43 kWh.

"In the technical development that has been carried out, it has been possible to achieve energy efficiencies similar to those of currently used refrigerants, with high Global Warming Potential (GWP). To do this, we carried out an analysis of the best configuration for vapor compression cycle adapted to the refrigerant used—propane—minimizing the amount used and optimizing the control parameters of the unit," explains José Gonzálvez.

"And for the coming years, the main challenge will be to increase the efficiency of this equipment at low ambient temperatures and provide it with an  that allows early detection of failures or degradation of its efficiency over time," concludes José Gonzálvez

Should you get a heat pump? Here's how they compare to a gas boiler

Provided by Universitat Politècnica de València

HEATPUMPS
Heiltsuk Nation’s clean energy conversion efforts put rest of B.C. to shame

By Rochelle Baker | News, Island Insider | April 8th 2022
NATIONAL OBSERVER 
#2 of 2 articles from the Special Report: Protecting our world - H̓íkila qṇts n̓ála’áx̌v

The Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Nation heat pump project is especially important for elders, says Leona Humchitt, climate action co-ordinator (right), with her mother Gásá, or Esther Brown. Photo by Mercedes Innes

A remote coastal First Nation has weaned a third of its homes off fossil fuels, making climate gains communities in the rest of B.C. can only aspire to.

To further its clean energy transition, Heiltsuk Nation has lined up another $5 million in funding to provide an additional 250 homes in Bella Bella with energy-efficient heat pumps over the next year. Once they are in, 90 per cent of the community’s households will have dramatically reduced their carbon footprint.

“I’m really happy and excited,” said Leona Humchitt, Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) tribal councillor and climate action team co-ordinator.

“Some of our community members didn't even have any heat, so being able to address that gap, especially for our elders, is huge.”

The heat pumps, which run on hydroelectricity and filter out pollutants, are already driving down energy consumption, emissions and bills while improving the air quality and health in the community’s homes, Humchitt said.


The heat pump project aims to provide the Haíɫzaqv with healthy homes and hearths and tackle energy poverty as part of the community’s new clean energy plan.

The nation developed its blueprint for action — titled Protecting our World, or H̓íkila qṇts n̓ála’áx̌v — and the heat pump project is a core initiative.

Ahead of the climate curve


The first 154 households have already had diesel furnaces or other inadequate heating systems replaced with central air-source heat pumps as a result of a partnership with Ecotrust Canada, which got underway in 2018, Humchitt said.

“Some of our community members didn't even have any heat, so being able to address that gap, especially for our elders, is huge," says Leona Humchitt climate action co-ordinator with the Heiltsuk First Nation heat pump project. #ClimateSolution

The Heiltsuk are ahead of the curve in a province where only 10 per cent of B.C. homes rely on heat pumps — which are much more environmentally friendly than natural gas, other fossil fuels, and other electric heating systems.

Despite the fact heat pumps heat and cool a home while generating the least emissions, the number of households heating with natural gas has gone up four per cent since 2017, according to a BC Hydro report.

More than half the homes in the province rely on natural gas, and in single-family dwellings, that number rises to two-thirds.

But in Bella Bella, many homes rely on dirty diesel to heat their homes, which is shipped to the remote community and poses an additional environmental hazard should a spill occur.

Of the 1.9 million litres of fossil fuel used by the community per year, 54 per cent was to heat homes, according to the Haíɫzaqv community energy plan.

Switching just one home from an oil furnace to a heat pump eliminates five tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually. So overall, the new heat pumps in the community mean 770 tonnes of GHG are abated each year.

And typically, heat and electricity bills in Bella Bella homes — which often house multigenerational families — are high, averaging $3,600 annually. But by switching to heat pumps, average household energy spending dropped by $1,500 per year.





Tackling energy poverty

An early analysis of the community’s energy use showed Bella Bella homes are consuming double the provincial average, Humchitt said, largely because many residences built and neglected under colonial policy are energy inefficient, overcrowded and inadequate for the climate.

An important step to compound gains from the heat pump project will be to continue to do energy audits of individual homes to determine what kind of retrofits, shallow or deep, they need, she said.

“Very substandard materials were used to build the homes,” Humchitt said.

“We have to do the work now to make sure we know which homes require the most work.”

The Haíɫzaqv climate action team and tribal housing department will continue to work with Ecotrust — a charity that partners with rural, remote Indigenous communities to tackle energy poverty — on the community’s retrofit plans and train local energy advisers, she said.

The success of the heat pump project in Bella Bella mirrors that of a Skidegate Band Council initiative in 2016 that saw nearly all the Haida Gwaii community’s 350 homes outfitted with the energy-efficient system, said Graham Anderson, director of Ecotrust’s Community Energy Initiative.

Graham Anderson and Phil Climie of Ecotrust Canada are working with the Heiltsuk Nation to help improve energy justice in the isolated coastal community.
 Photo courtesy Graham Anderson

Heat pumps are proving to be one of the most effective and least complex ways to lower heating bills for households facing high energy costs in B.C., he said.

“They're both communities facing exorbitantly high household heating costs,” Anderson said. “Our work has really been focused on those situations where costs are really challenging for households and to help address them and to make ends meet.”

Rural, remote, and Indigenous communities often face energy costs that are up to three times the Canadian household average, according to an Ecotrust report.

Energy poverty is generally understood to be when a low-income household is spending double or more than a median household for necessities such as heating, lighting or cooking.

In B.C., the median household spends about three per cent of total income on energy, while the provincial energy poverty line is six per cent or more. As a result, 15 per cent of B.C. households experience energy poverty — with 17,000 of those being Indigenous households.

Energy poverty disproportionately impacts rural communities and the health and wellness of families, increasing the risks of asthma or mold-related illness caused by living in cold, poorly ventilated homes, the report stated.

One recipient of a heat pump told the Heiltsuk climate action team that she no longer had to struggle with the choice between food or heat for her family.

One factor in the success of the Haíɫzaqv heat pump project has been clarity of vision and sustained commitment by the climate action team and leadership, Anderson said.

“They’re leading the way on the community energy plan and aligning their work with the community’s vision and intentions and pursuing that project over many years.”

Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada's National Observer
April 8th 2022

Rochelle Baker
Reporter
CORPORATIONS AIN'T DEMOCRACIES
‘They pretend we don’t exist’: Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs insulted after RBC cancels in-person meeting last-minute
NATIONAL OBSERVER

Wet’suwet’en nation hereditary Chief Namoks (right) walks with Chief Gisdaya (centre) and Chief Madeek while in Toronto for the Royal Bank of Canada annual general meeting, on Thursday, April 7, 2022. 
(Christopher Katsarov / Canada's National Observer)

On the second floor of a hotel in the shadow of the CN Tower, Wet’suwet’en hereditary leadership and their allies crowded around laptops and cellphones for one purpose: confront RBC executives over the bank’s financing of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Chiefs Namoks, Gisdaya and Madeek, and others from the nation, travelled from their unceded territory in northern British Columbia — where the pipeline is currently under construction and land defenders have been arrested at gunpoint — to attend the bank’s annual general meeting (AGM) in downtown Toronto Thursday morning. But late Wednesday, RBC cancelled the in-person portion of the AGM, citing concerns about COVID, and shifted the entire meeting online

Not all shareholders were informed of the move ahead of time, and so, anticipating RBC representatives might be at the original in-person location to tell people, Wet’suwet’en chiefs began the day by marching from their hotel to the convention centre where the meeting was meant to take place. When they arrived, they found no representatives from the bank and left.

Wet'suwet'en nation hereditary Chief Namoks (far right), Chief Gisdaya (centre) and Chief Madeek are informed by Metro Convention Centre management the in-person RBC AGM has been cancelled.
 (Christopher Katsarov / Canada's National Observer)

Chief Namoks called it an insult he won’t ever forget.

“Today is one of the highest insults I've ever received as a chief,” he said. “You’ve seen the violence (on Wet’suwet’en territory); I think today's insult was bigger.”

“They wouldn't even send anybody out to apologize for cancelling the RBC meeting on such short notice. We travelled across from our lands in British Columbia to here, and they don't even apologize to high chiefs? … They pretend we don't exist, and every aspect, they treat us as if we're not human.”

With the original plan to challenge RBC executives in person squashed, Plan B involved getting on the phones and hoping for the opportunity to ask a question at the virtual meeting. It worked. The three chiefs asked back-to-back-to-back questions, challenging RBC CEO Dave McKay over the bank’s financing of Coastal GasLink, a pipeline expected to carry 2.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, if built, to the LNG Canada Kitimat facility for export. McKay responded to — but didn’t exactly answer — the questions, as several in the room commented.

Delegates and supporters of Wet'suwet'en hereditary leadership react while listening to the virtual Royal Bank of Canada annual general meeting, in Toronto on Thursday, April 7, 2022. (Christopher Katsarov / Canada's National Observer)

As McKay cycled through familiar talking points about the economic benefits of the pipeline, characterizing the nation as divided on the issue, jaws dropped and eyes rolled among Wet’suwet’en allies.

“Today is one of the highest insults I've ever received as a chief,” Wet'suwet'en hereditary Chief Namoks said Thursday after RBC abruptly cancelled its in-person shareholder meeting. #RBC #CoastalGasLink #FinancingDisaster

Chief Gisdaya asked how RBC was accountable to its human rights statement, which says the bank will avoid contributing to “adverse human rights impacts.”

“The pipeline defies the human rights of our young people by threatening their ability to feed themselves and practice their culture,” he said. “How is RBC being accountable to this policy, their shareholders, our human rights and the rights of our young people by continuing to fund the Coastal GasLink pipeline?”

Wet'suwet'en hereditary Chief Gisdaya speaks during the virtual Royal Bank of Canada annual general meeting, in Toronto on Thursday, April 7, 2022. 
(Christopher Katsarov / Canada's National Observer)


McKay said he wanted to assure the chief that first and foremost, “RBC only supports projects that are environmentally and socially responsible.”

McKay then said with respect to Coastal GasLink, the pipeline has been approved and enjoys the support of 20 elected band councils — an irrelevant point, considering the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leadership have not consented and actively oppose construction through their territory. Coastal GasLink reached agreements with First Nation band councils along the project’s route, including Wet’suwet’en bands, and there is both support and opposition among members of the nation. However, hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs oppose the project, and it is the hereditary chiefs who hold authority over the land in question.

"I know there are divisions within parts of the community, and I know it's important that we respect that the First Nations need to resolve specific disagreements within their own communities,” McKay said.

“We're certainly willing to play any role if asked to help mediate those discussions,” he added.

In an interview with Canada’s National Observer, Gidimt’en Checkpoint spokesperson Sleydo’ rejected the characterization of a divided nation in need of mediation and said it was a divide-and-conquer tactic
.
Gidimt’en Checkpoint spokesperson Sleydo’ delivers remarks to media after a virtual Royal Bank of Canada annual general meeting, in Toronto, on Thursday, April 7, 2022. (Christopher Katsarov / Canada's National Observer)

“He tried to direct the conversation and focus on so-called divisions within our community, and I think that's what a lot of people do,” she said. “Even if there was division within our community and within our hereditary system, it does not negate the fact that Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs are the full jurisdiction on the land.”

The question of who has jurisdiction over the Wet’suwet’en traditional territory is long settled. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized in its landmark case Delgamuukw v. British Columbia that Canada did not extinguish Wet’suwet’en title to the land. That case acknowledged the nation’s hereditary governance structure, meaning Wet’suwet’en law is recognized by Canada’s highest court and authority over the nation’s land lies with the hereditary chiefs.

Following the virtual AGM, Wet’suwet’en leaders spoke to a crowd of supporters gathered in a nearby park. Chief Namoks said the nation was asking RBC and its shareholders to “be human.”

“When we work together to put pressure on financial institutions such as RBC, that's where you make a difference,” he said. “We need to stand together. Pull your money out of such banking institutions like RBC.”
Wet'suwet'en nation Hereditary Chief Namoks speaks to a gathering of demonstrators outside the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto, on Thursday, April 7, 2022. (Christopher Katsarov / Canada's National Observer)

Speaking to the same crowd, Chief Gisdaya warned of the climate risks of continued fossil fuel investment.

“I used to look forward to the summer,” he said. “Now I'm scared because of all the fires, and it's coming closer up north.

“It's just the beginning and it's going to get worse yet if they don't change now. Not 2030; it has to be now.”

Across the country, solidarity protests outside of RBC branches were held.
Supporters of Wet'suwet'en hereditary leadership protest in solidarity outside an RBC branch in Markham, Ont., on Thursday, April 7, 2022. Photo courtesy of Leadnow

​​“For RBC customers concerned about the climate crisis and climate chaos, RBC management demonstrates extreme commitments to ‘horse and buggy’ industries,” said Mike Benedict from Extinction Rebellion Ottawa. “RBC must change or perish.”

Banking on a Better Future youth organizer Aishwarya Puttur said in a statement RBC is “killing our chances at a livable future.”

“Youth are key for RBC’s business, but how can RBC expect young people to bank with them when they are actively financing the leading cause of the climate crisis, destroying our futures and the current livelihoods of millions of people?” she asked.

TC Energy is building the Coastal GasLink pipeline to feed LNG Canada’s Kitimat facility with fracked methane from the Dawson Creek area of B.C. Last year, the Calgary-headquartered fossil fuel giant sold its majority stake in Coastal GasLink to Alberta and South Korea’s public pension plans, managed by investment companies AIMCo and KKR, respectively.

The sale not only generated $600 million for the company, it triggered a financing scheme with dozens of banks that allowed the company to immediately tap about $2.1 billion to pay for the project’s construction. BankTrack identifies 27 financiers of Coastal GasLink that, together, have given the project a $6.4-billion loan.

Among the 27 financiers are Canada’s big five banks — RBC, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC and TD — along with the National Bank of Canada, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of China, Bank of America, South Korea-headquartered KB Financial Group, Japan-based Mizuho, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and many others. Export Development Canada is also listed as a financier.

One reason why Wet’suwet’en leadership are targeting RBC over its role in Coastal GasLink is sheer size. Among the world’s banks, RBC is the fifth-largest financier of fossil fuels, having loaned or invested over $260 billion to coal, oil and gas companies since the Paris Agreement was signed.

Delegates and supporters of Wet'suwet'en hereditary leadership protest outside the Royal Bank of Canada annual general meeting, in Toronto on Thursday, April 7, 2022. (Christopher Katsarov / Canada's National Observer)

RBC rejects shareholder resolutions

During the AGM, RBC shareholders voted on a series of climate resolutions aimed at improving the company’s performance in bringing down planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Among the proposals were requests for RBC to stop participating in pollution-intensive asset privatization deals, to adopt an annual advisory voting policy to guide climate action and, in a resolution filed by Investors for Paris Compliance, to halt financing for fossil fuel companies under the banner of “sustainability.”

All three proposals were shot down.

The resolution from Investors for Paris Compliance flows from a series of questionable deals RBC inked last year. Among them was a $1.1-billion sustainability-linked bond RBC and several other Canadian banks bought, providing fossil fuel giant Enbridge with cash it could use to build pipelines and pay police to clear Indigenous opposition.

“We’re disappointed that more big institutional investors — including the banks — didn’t vote to tackle the greenwashing of sustainable finance, but we’re pleased we could draw some attention to this critical issue,” said Investors for Paris Compliance director of corporate engagement Matt Price.

“Ultimately, the regulator needs to step in to ensure the integrity of these products if banks and investors won’t do it themselves.”

April 8th 2022
from the Special Report: Financing disaster


John Woodside
Reporter
@Woodsideful

Indigenous leaders, protesters gather in Vancouver to oppose Trans Mountain pipeline

Ottawa says no more public money will go toward the

pipeline now projected to cost $21.4 billion

People gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery to protest the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (Climate Convergence)

Protesters against the federally-owned Trans Mountain pipeline gathered outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on Saturday to show the government and investors that opposition to the project is still strong and they believe funding it would be a "risky investment.''

Signs that read "Don't fund the Trans Mountain,'' "Protect the Ocean'' and "Protect the Land'' littered the square in front of the gallery where a few hundred people gathered.

Rally planners from the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation's Sacred Trust Initiative say this marked the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began that Indigenous leaders have come together to publicly oppose the pipeline.

Rueben George, manager of the Sacred Trust Initiative, says the pandemic restricted gatherings and hindered their outreach, but that the rally will lift spirits and signal the start of more events and public outreach.

The federal government said in February that no more public money would go toward the pipeline as its new projected price tag increased to $21.4 billion.

George says the project now relies on funding from investors and the group hopes to send the message that it is a "stranded asset'' and should not be built.

"It's not a good investment, let alone the destruction that's going to cause,'' he said. "We have to wake up our country again. We have to do something to create change for our future generations.''

The federal government paid $4.5 billion dollars to take over the expansion project from Kinder Morgan in 2018 in a bid to almost triple the amount of crude oil moving from Alberta to customers overseas.

The pipeline expansion was originally expected to be complete sometime this year but the Trans Mountain Corporation also pushed back the projected completion date to the third quarter of 2023.

It said severe flooding in southern B.C. last fall, coupled with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, forced the delays.

UBC students block on-campus RBC branch entrances in protest of bank's investment in fossil fuels, Coastal GasLink pipeline


Written by Elif Kayali
UBESSEY 
April 8, 2022


The protest was part of a nationwide movement called Glue Yourself To An RBC. 
Nathan Bawaan


Two UBC students glued and chained themselves to the doors of the RBC branch in the Nest to demand the bank respect Indigenous land rights and divest from fossil fuels and the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Lukas Troni and Charles Gelman, both second-year students, blocked the branch’s two entrances from 9 a.m. yesterday morning until 4 p.m. in the afternoon. The protest was part of a nationwide movement called Glue Yourself To An RBC, planned to coincide with the bank’s annual shareholders’ meeting which was happening in Toronto.

The branch remained closed throughout the day.

“I am chained to this RBC because RBC will not divest from fossil fuels and I want a future I can live in,” said Troni.

“We’re all here today because RBC is Canada's biggest bank investing in fossil fuels, which means they’re investing in climate change and investing in the destruction of our future, and the future for our kids and the rest of humanity,” Gelmaan said.

RBC is the fifth largest investor of fossil fuels around the world — and the largest in Canada — lending $160 billion to the industry over five years. Additionally, the AMS uses RBC as its own bank — which it used to finance the Nest’s construction loan.


This is not the first time RBC has been criticized for its fossil fuel investments. Climate Justice UBC organized a march in late October 2021 to protest the bank’s investments and UBC student Isaac Schwein glued himself to an RBC branch downtown in February 2022.



















Nathan Bawaan

Protestors were also blocking the entrances to the RBC branch to protest the bank’s investment in the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline project.

The pipeline — which is set to go through Dawson Creek, Alberta to the LNG Canada Facility in Kitimat, BC — has been criticized for its harmful environmental impact and violation of Indigenous land rights. The pipeline goes through the traditional, unceded territories of the Wet’suwet’en First Nations people, and has faced opposition from hereditary chiefs.

“RBC enables all of the violence that is happening currently on the yintah” — which means land in the Wet’suwet’en language — “and all of the violence that is happening at the behest of Coastal GasLink pipeline,” said Kílila Raine who came to the protest with their relatives to support the movement. Raine has Squamish ancestry on their mother’s side and English, Scottish and mixed European ancestry on both sides of their family.

RBC’ s Chief Executive Dave McKay defended the bank’s involvement with the CGL pipeline at today’s shareholders’ meeting which was moved online at the last minute after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs had traveled from BC to Toronto to oppose the bank’s financing of the pipeline.

“The Wet’suwet’en people have told us what they [want us] to do. They told us to divest from these banks, they told us to blockade these banks, they've told us exactly what we need to do to support them and to help them,” said Raine.


“So I guess what I would like to see from the AMS is some listening … instead of doing performative actions, performative green initiatives that we all know are taking place at universities and corporations.”


Elif Kayali

In an email to The Ubyssey, AMS President Cole Evans said the student society respects students’ right to peacefully protest and that it had shown its support for the Wet’suwet’en Nation through two public statements in 2020 and 2021.

“We will continue to show our solidarity with Indigenous communities across Canada and advocate for decolonial action to relevant stakeholders,” Evans wrote.

Additionally, Evans confirmed that the student society is using RBC for its banking and partners with the bank on different projects like AMS eHub’s RBC Get Seeded event.

“While the Society is unable to alter our banking relationship with RBC due to long-term loan agreements and much-needed financial infrastructure, we are currently re-evaluating our non-financial partnerships with them,” Evans added.

Rafael Ruffolo, director of corporate communications with RBC, declined to comment on the protest on campus.
Canadian banks, insurance companies have poured millions into Russian oil and gas

By John Woodside 
NATIONAL OBSERVER 


A Gazprom oil-producing facility in Russia's Yamal region. Canadian banks and insurance companies have invested millions in the country's oil and gas companies, which make up nearly 40 per cent of Russia's revenue. (AP Photo/Petr Shelomovskiy)

Canadian banks, insurance companies and asset managers have pumped millions into Russian-owned oil and gas companies that have flowed into the petrostate’s war chest.

New research from international climate non-profit Stand.earth shows Manulife, RBC, CIBC, BMO and others have collectively financed Russia’s three largest oil and gas companies — Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosneft — with more than US$110 million worth of investments. The data was compiled using financial software called a Bloomberg terminal that tracks investments in real-time.

Specifically, Manulife holds $14.7 million worth of stock and about $7 million worth of Gazprom bonds. It owns about $39 million in Lukoil stock and roughly $590,000 worth of bonds. It also holds roughly $5.8 million worth of shares in Rosneft. Together, Manulife’s exposure to the three Russian oil and gas companies adds up to about $67 million, or about 60 per cent of the total investments of identified Canadian financial institutions.

According to the data, RBC owns $6.3 million in shares of Lukoil and over $31 million worth of bonds from Gazprom. Similarly, BMO owns $4.3 million worth of shares as well as $3.3 million worth of bonds in Gazprom. CIBC holds $7.8 million worth of shares in Lukoil and just over $240,000 worth of shares in Rosneft.

Other financial institutions supporting the Russian oil and gas giants include AGF Management, MD Financial Management, Sun Life Financial, Desjardins Trust, Fidelity Investments Canada, 1832 Asset Management and Power Corp of Canada.

Stand.earth climate finance director Richard Brooks told Canada’s National Observer that even if the total figures aren’t enough to fundamentally change the calculus of the invasion of Ukraine, these institutions should divest themselves as part of the Canadian response to Russia, from symbolic actions — like lighting up the CN Tower in Ukraine’s colours to other economic tactics like sanctions.

“The investment isn't in the billions of dollars, but that doesn't mean Canadian financial institutions are off the hook in terms of taking responsibility for where their money is being invested and what kind of activities their money is supporting,” he said.

“If Vladimir Putin didn't have Russian oil and gas revenue, then he wouldn't have been able to amass the war chest that he has to be able to invade Ukraine,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the UN General Assembly debate in 2015. 
Photo via United Nations / Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Russia is a fossil fuel energy superpower. Its energy policies often dovetail with its foreign policies given how significant fossil fuel exports are to the country’s economy. Oil and gas made up 60 per cent of exports and nearly 40 per cent of the country’s revenue in 2019. The country reportedly receives upwards of $500 million in revenue every day from oil and gas. The multibillion-dollar Gazprom-owned Nord Stream 2 pipeline, designed to double capacity for natural gas flowing from Russia to Germany via the Black Sea, is just one example of how Putin has been able to leverage European energy needs to Russia’s advantage.

Canadian financial institutions are pumping millions into Russia's war chest via oil and gas investments. Pressure is mounting to divest. #cdnpoli


Brooks said the ongoing invasion of Ukraine underscores how financing fossil fuels carries risks for more than just the climate, noting: “Geopolitics are what they are because of the energy industry, to a large degree.”

“We wouldn't be in this situation if we had begun the transition to renewables and off of fossil fuels 20 years ago,” he said. “Many European countries wouldn’t be beholden to Russian oil and gas if that transition had already happened.”

Countries are waking up to this. On Monday, The Associated Press reported Germany’s vice-chancellor would travel to Washington to discuss ramping up renewable energy to achieve better energy security.


Despite the security benefits of decarbonizing, Big Oil boosters in Canada, including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and some Conservative Party MPs, have called on ramping up domestic fossil fuel production.

“I think that's just despicable that they would try to use this crisis to drive an expansion of oil and gas production and exploration in North America. That's exactly what we should not be doing,” Brooks said.

“We need to put investments into renewables and get off fossil fuels because in the end, nobody controls the wind and nobody controls the sun,” he said. “And when nobody has control over those two fuels, that changes the whole geopolitical system globally and could go a long way to preventing this type of thing from happening again.”

People flood the streets of Vancouver last month to demonstrate Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Photo by Bruno / Unsplash

Part of the international response against Russia is to sanction key elements of its economy. That’s why the U.S. slapped sanctions on Nord Stream 2 last week, and Reuters reports the company is now considering filing for insolvency given sanctions are only expected to tighten. Many Russian banks have been cut off from SWIFT, the plumbing of the global financial system.

Western oil and gas giants are also starting to distance themselves. On Sunday, after decades of working in Russia, BP announced it would divest itself of its 19.75 per cent stake in Rosneft, potentially costing BP $25 billion. Similarly, Shell said on Monday it would exit all of its Russian operations, including the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and the Sakhalin 2 LNG plant, where it holds a 27.5 per cent stake, and where Gazprom is a 50 per cent owner.

Stand.earth is calling for Ottawa to require Canadian companies to divest from Russian-owned companies in an expected next round of sanctions.

The federal government, Manulife, RBC, BMO, and CIBC did not return a request for comment by deadline.

#4 of 11 articles from the Special Report: Financing disaster
March 2nd 2022

John Woodside
Reporter
@Woodsideful