After claiming on its website, in its advertisements and even in the Canada pavilion at UN climate conferences that tar sands companies were on the path to “carbon neutrality”, the industry lobby has just erase all this content from the Internet. This move stems from federal Bill C-59, which contains a truth-in-advertising provision that would require companies to provide proof of their environmental claims.
Alliance Nouvelles Voies, which brings together companies in the sector, affirmed on its website until Wednesday that the industry is “on the path to achieving carbon neutrality” in the context of the exploitation of oil from the tar sands.
It notably touted efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the development of a carbon capture and storage network, an experimental technology on which the fossil fuel industry is banking heavily to reduce its emissions.
“It’s clear, we are making great strides towards carbon neutrality,” stated in recent years an advertisement broadcast in various media, on social media and during sporting events. A major statement for an organization that brings together Canadian Natural, Cenovus, ConocoPhillips, Imperial, Meg Energy and Suncor. These companies alone account for 95% of tar sands oil production, or nearly three million barrels per day.
All of this has completely disappeared from the lobby’s website, but also from its social media posts. For what ? “As part of last-minute changes to omnibus Bill C-59, the imminent adoption of amendments to the Competition Act will create considerable uncertainty for Canadian businesses wishing to speak publicly on the work they are undertaking to improve their environmental performance and combat climate change,” wrote Alliance Nouvelles Voies in a message that replaced all the content on its website.
In this context, the group says it has “removed certain content” from its website, but also from its “social media and other public platforms”. He reaffirms at the same time that the tar sands industry “is called upon to play a determining role in reducing the environmental impacts of” oil exploitation, “which will contribute, among other things, to the achievement of gas reduction targets. Canada’s greenhouse effect.
You should know that omnibus budget Bill C-59, which has not yet received royal assent, contains an amendment on truth in advertising which would require companies to provide evidence to support their environmental claims . Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Shulz called this provision an “undemocratic gag order” that creates unnecessary uncertainty for businesses.
“Greenwashing”
Environmental groups, however, welcome this provision and argued Thursday that the disappearance of Alliance Nouvelles Voies’ claims demonstrates the “greenwashing” strategy that has until now been used by the fossil fuel industry. “Clearly, the tar sands companies have understood that they can no longer continue their bluff and greenwashing which goes against the law,” argued Nola Poirier, senior researcher and editor at Greenpeace Canada.
Senior analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation, Andréanne Brazeau believes that the new legal provisions should contribute to the implementation of environmental commitments, particularly in climate matters, which are based on an approach that goes beyond the simple advertising speech or public relations message. “Greenwashing harms ambition” in this area, according to her.
The Competition Bureau is already investigating the New Ways Alliance to determine whether it violated competition law “by making false or misleading environmental statements,” following a complaint filed last year by Greenpeace Canada . This approach is supported by former federal Minister of the Environment Catherine McKenna.
Environmentalists say in particular that the industry’s carbon neutrality plan does not take into account greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the use of oil, which is mainly exported and burned elsewhere in the world. An estimate from the Federal Ministry of the Environment has already indicated that between 2016 and 2020, emissions linked to exported oil alone reached 3.22 billion tonnes of GHGs, or an annual average of nearly 644 million tonnes.
The Trudeau government had invited the New Pathways Alliance to hold an event at the Canada Pavilion during the 2022 UN climate conference, COP27. The objective was to allow the industry to present the carbon capture and storage project intended to enable it to achieve carbon neutrality. A leader of the group was also invited to the Canada pavilion during COP28 as part of a panel on “industrial decarbonization”.