Canada and Alberta are accelerating their phase down of all coal-fired electricity generation assets and the ripple effect is evident in the actions of leading energy corporations. Yesterday, ATCO, a Calgary-based energy company, announced new ESG targets for 2030 and a commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. This follows actions to reduce its operational GHG emissions by 90 per cent between 2019 and 2020, in part, through the sale of its Canadian fossil fuel-based electricity generation assets.
ATCO indicates that the company will accelerate the deployment and use of clean hydrogen, energy storage, renewable electricity, and energy efficiency technologies to achieve its net zero commitment by 2050. In addition, it will work with government to support enabling policy and regulation and identify barriers for a cost-effective decarbonization of the economy.
ATCO’s ESG targets include:
- reducing net operational GHG emissions to earnings intensity by 30 per cent;
- reducing customer GHG emissions by 2 million tonnes through participation in renewable energy, clean fuels, energy efficiency, and energy infrastructure projects;
- owning, developing, or managing over 1,000 MW of renewable energy; and
- deriving 20 per cent of revenues from transitional product categories (such as renewable natural gas and hydrogen).
These changes precede what is anticipated to be mandatory climate-related financial disclosures being announced and imposed by the Canadian Securities Administrators (see our earlier bulletin on proposed climate-related disclosure requirements here). We expect other energy corporations to also make bold announcements in the coming months.
For further information or to discuss the contents of this bulletin, please contact Lisa DeMarco at lisa@resilientllp.com.
