Amidst a boom in fossil fuel lobbyist attendance, Canada is doing the bidding of oil and gas companies at the UN summit in Egypt
As delegates walked into the Canada Pavilion at the United Nations climate summit last week, we were met with a shocking surprise: at least eight confirmed oil and gas lobbyists with Canadian-government sponsored badges.
Canadian companies are helping drive a wave of fossil fuel expansion in Africa, new data from German climate and human rights group Urgewald shows, and climate advocates say the federal government must step in with strong regulations to turn the tide.
Hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists including at least a dozen from Canada are in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt for this year’s United Nations’ climate conference, a data analysis from Corporate Accountability, Corporate Europe Observatory and Global Witness reveals.
Canada’s benchmark heavy crude, Western Canada Select (WCS), is trading at a steep discount to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) after weakening sharply last month, and is expected to remain subdued well into next year.
Why is WCS under pressure?
WCS for delivery at the Hardisty, Alberta, hub is trading close to $30 a barrel under WTI, having averaged $16.67 a barrel below WTI for the first three quarters of 2022.
The world’s seven biggest oil firms are projected to reap gargantuan profits of US$173 billion this year, leading to fresh calls for windfall taxes on a sector that has thrived after Russia’s war in Ukraine led to sky-high fuel prices.
BC ordered Coastal GasLink to ‘cease’ variations from approved work plans. The company insists it hasn’t broken any rules.
Coastal GasLink maintains it’s not in violation of a compliance agreement it signed with the province aimed at reducing watershed damage along its pipeline route.
But the B.C. government ordered it to “cease” activities that violate the agreement on Oct. 14.
Last week, Alex Nunns, author of ‘The Candidate – Jeremy Corbyn’s Improbable Path To Power’ and former Corbyn speechwriter, described the current assault on democracy within the Labour Party:
‘What’s happening in the Labour Party is new. The Labour right, having had the shock of their lives in 2015, are now intent on eradicating the left entirely. This isn’t how their predecessors thought. It’s a new departure in Labour history that’ll have long term consequences.’
Insurance companies that have long said they’ll cover anything, at the right price, are increasingly ruling out fossil fuel projects because of climate change—to cheers from environmental campaigners.
More than a dozen groups that track what policies insurers have on high-emissions activities say the industry is turning its back on oil, gas, and coal, The Associated Press reports.
