Why Future Fit Hydrocarbons are the bridge to a better future

By | Working Visibly: EFL Initiatives | No Comments

This post is part 2 of 3 exploring sustainable finance, bringing together the perspectives of three of our Core Working Group members: Patrycja Drainville (Associate Director, Sustainable Finance, Scotiabank), Chad Park (Vice President, Sustainability & Citizenship, The Cooperators), and Jamie Bonham (Director of Corporate Engagement, NEI Investments)

Read More

Capital Concerns: Why big business is driving the shift towards lower-carbon capitalism (and why Alberta can be a part of it)

By | Working Visibly: EFL Initiatives | No Comments

If there was ever any doubt that net-zero finance was the way of the future, former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney cleared it up in a March 29th tweet. “Huge announcement today that the core of the global asset management industry, managing over $32 trillion in assets, is committing to addressing climate change [and] delivering the goals of the Paris Agreement.” When you start talking about that many trillions of dollars, even the most ardent skeptic is forced to sit up and start listening.

Read More

Practical Approaches to Storytelling: A Guide for Energy Professionals

By | Innovation Tools & Resources | No Comments

We’re often told that we need to do a better job of telling our stories. There are plenty of narrative opportunities to be explored within the energy sector and yet, despite an emerging consensus around the importance of storytelling, it’s often difficult to identify and breathe life into the stories that shape our companies, technologies or relationships with energy. So in this post, I’ll explore a few practical approaches to storytelling that we can draw on to spark curiosity, empathy and action within Canada’s energy sector.

Read More

What do decision-makers care about when investing in future-fit hydrocarbons?

By | Working Visibly: EFL Initiatives | No Comments

Alberta’s hydrocarbon sector faced an uncertain future in a world moving towards lower-carbon energy before the pandemic, with existing trends accelerating since March 2020. This uncertainty towards the future of the sector offers both risks and opportunities. The province’s rich natural resource wealth and highly skilled workforce have potential to capture a growing share of the clean technology market, and play a pivotal role in reaching climate targets.

Read More

A closer look at “future-fit”

By | Working Visibly: EFL Initiatives | No Comments

Planning for the future is complicated. We don’t know for sure what the future will look like. That means — and forgive me for being a little nerdy here — defining “future fitness” is a probabilistic question: we have to assess “fitness” across a range of possible futures. At the same time, the future also isn’t entirely out of our control. Policy choices we make now can influence which futures are more (or less) likely to come to pass.

Read More

Tech for Tomorrow’s Alberta: ERA’s Technology Roadmap & Future-Fit Hydrocarbons

By | Working Visibly: EFL Initiatives | No Comments

Around the world, countries, corporations, and people are picking up the call for a net-zero future. This global rallying cry is highlighting that we need to do more to reach a lower emissions future and we need to do it at an exponential pace. We cannot close the gap between our reality today, and our aspirations for what is possible, without developing and deploying technologies that both manage our greenhouse gas emissions and add value to our economy.

Read More

What is a Pathway? A conceptual overview of transition pathways

By | Working Visibly: EFL Initiatives | No Comments

A shift towards a world with drastically lower carbon emissions appears to be in the cards. The UNFCC noted that global commitments to reach net-zero emissions from regions, cities, corporations, and countries has doubled since September 2019, and that was before China, Japan, and South Korea all pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or 2060.

Read More