A flare stack lights the sky from an oil refinery in Edmonton, on Dec. 28, 2018.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Alberta is hoping it can minimize the impact of new federal rules aimed at combatting corporate greenwashing, saying they threaten to silence the oil and gas industry and others aiming to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Rebecca Schulz, Alberta’s Environment Minister, said this week that the province will make a submission to the Competition Bureau as the agency conducts consultations on the implementation of a newly enacted amendment to the Competition Act.
Last month, Ottawa proceeded with a contentious provision within Bill C-59 that puts companies at legal risk for making assertions about their environmental records that do not stand up to scrutiny.
It said corporate communications must be backed up by as-yet undefined international standards. Individuals and companies could face sizable fines if found liable.
In response, several oil and gas companies and industry associations added disclaimers to their websites and social-media feeds or deleted content. Alberta has been vociferous in its opposition to the amendment, calling the anti-greenwashing provision a “gag order.”
“We in Alberta, we’re happy to step up and promote the record of our companies, the great work we’re doing on emissions reduction – where that work is headed – and hopefully we can get these issues fixed through this consultation process,” Ms. Schulz said at the end of a meeting of the country’s environment ministers in St. John’s Wednesday. “We will absolutely be making a submission to the federal government about what our concerns are, and many in industry are doing the same.”
The Competition Bureau said it would seek feedback in the coming weeks. It is also developing guidance for companies on the changes, said Marianne Blondin, spokesperson for the bureau, in a statement.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said there are already rules in place preventing companies from making false environmental claims about products and services, adding that the new provisions extend those to corporate climate-related assertions. Companies will have the burden of proof, he said in St. John’s.
“That’s all that the amendment says, and there are a lot of Canadians out there who are concerned with greenwashing, and this will be a way to ensure that what companies claim when it comes to environmental performance will be rooted in fact,” he said.
Environmentalists have lauded the change, saying the amendment will provide protections for consumers and investors by injecting reality into green claims, as Canadian regulators move slowly with plans to implement mandatory climate disclosures.
After the provision became law, Pathways Alliance, a coalition of oil sands producers proposing a multibillion-dollar carbon capture and storage project, replaced its website and social-media content with a disclaimer it said was in response to the uncertainty the amendment created.
At least three of its member companies – Suncor Energy Inc. SU-T, Cenovus Energy Inc. CVE-T and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. CNQ-T – added disclaimers to their online communications.
Ms. Schulz said it is late in the process to engage in consultations about an amendment that has already caused concerns about legal dangers. “There is a very real risk now that companies are not able to talk about their environmental record and the great work that they’ve done,” she said. “But that also applies to non-profit organizations who are doing amazing work to help us meet our environmental goals.”
In a statement provided to The Globe and Mail, she said oil and gas companies are not the only ones affected by the measure; it also affects the agriculture, forestry and technology sectors.
“There was no consultation or scrutiny, and most importantly, there wasn’t even a clear definition of what ‘internationally recognized methodology’ even means,” she said, referring to scientific standards that would be used as yardsticks.