Royal Bank of Canada RY-T is launching a climate research arm that will bring together expertise from various sectors to help reduce emissions, with an initial focus on agriculture.
RBC said Monday that its Climate Action Institute will deploy the bank’s research capabilities and invite government officials, business leaders and others to share information on developing net-zero emission strategies. The initiative stems from the bank’s forecasting that the Canadian economy is likely to require $2-trillion in public and private spending to meet the country’s climate goals.
The strategy involves developing and scaling up emission-reduction demonstration projects in key industries. RBC has already formed a group with Nutrien Inc. NTR-T, Loblaw Cos. Inc. L-T and Maple Leaf Foods MFI-T called the Canadian Alliance for Net Zero Agriculture, which is researching and publishing reports on the need for net-zero projects in agriculture. The group also includes large commercial farmers and industry coalitions focused on decarbonizing the food supply chain, said John Stackhouse, RBC’s senior vice-president, office of the CEO. It has engaged the Smart Prosperity Institute, an Ottawa-based economic think tank, to steer the alliance.
One project is soil preservation. Over the next year, the group plans to expand soil capture projects, starting with one in Saskatchewan this spring. “There are soil capture projects going on around the country, but we want to build it out as an economic model, developing ways for companies in the supply system to pay and certify farmers for soil preservation techniques that are known to increase the capture of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Mr. Stackhouse, a former editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail.
RBC’s institute is also looking to apply its research and collaboration model to the building and energy industries, the bank said.