The new head of Canada’s largest oil and gas lobby group wants industry and governments to work together more closely to lower greenhouse gas emissions, tackle regulatory hurdles and attract investment to help shore up global energy security.
Lisa Baiton’s comments – her first public remarks since taking the reins as chief executive officer last month – mark a shift in tone for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. For the past few years the group has taken a more confrontational approach, publicly railing against various federal government policies that it argued unfairly attacked the industry it represented.
Speaking at Alberta Relaunch – a one-day conference about shaping Alberta’s economic future, presented by New West Public Affairs – Ms. Baiton said the oil and gas sector is “in a new era.”
With the federal government setting climate goals such as reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 (a target shared by the country’s largest oil sands producers), Ms. Baiton said CAPP must be a thoughtful and collaborative partner to help industry and government move forward together on various environmental, economic and energy security files.
“I also think it’s important that maybe we shift our tone and approach so that we can be at the table, and be part of the solutions that are being crafted,” she told reporters after her remarks.
“I’d ask that everybody do the same. Let’s all come together on a one-team approach, and hopefully we can tackle these challenges together.”
Ms. Baiton also sees an opportunity for Canada’s energy sector as the West ramps up its sanctions on Russian energy in the face of that country’s invasion of Ukraine.
With capital leaving Russia’s energy market and potentially other authoritarian regimes, Ms. Baiton said, “Canada can proudly offer a safe landing for that investment.”
Indeed, Canada’s oil and gas industry has been in survival mode for years, facing a depressed investment environment in addition to market-access challenges and low oil prices.
But now with higher commodity prices and more emphasis on global energy security and climate change, she said CAPP must be more proactive.
A key part of that work for Ms. Baiton will be strengthening relationships with governments – not just in Canada, but in the United States and Europe.
It also means CAPP must do a much better job of talking to the investment community about its own net-zero goals, and the industry’s swath of investments in clean and emissions-reducing technologies.
“Saying the same thing over and over and louder – if it’s not resonating, we have to listen and then respond, as opposed to tell,” she told reporters.
“We have to meet people where they’re at.”
Does that mean being less confrontational? Ms. Baiton preferred to call it “more solution-oriented.”
And she’s hopeful that a broad range of stakeholders – from Bay Street to think tanks and policy makers – will be up for the challenge.
“What the last few months have really shown people is that energy and the environment are so inextricably linked. If they aren’t done together, both will fail. So I am optimistic. How about I’ll say that. I’m optimistic.”
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Emma Graney