Alberta announces wide-reaching climate plan

Report summary

The Alberta provincial government detailed its anticipated Climate Leadership Plan on 22 November, which includes a Cdn$30/tonne carbon price across all sectors. The impact for coal is bleak, with both wind and gas power generation benefitting as coal power generation will now reduce to zero by 2030. Other aspects of the plan include a legislated cap on emissions from the oil sands sector and targeted reductions in methane emissions. Winners and losers will become more clear as performance standards and other details are legislated, negotiated and codified. But a comprehensive climate strategy could be seen as a positive for the region which has struggled to add crude export pipelines for its growing oil sands production. Public and political perception of Alberta's climate record have been increasingly linked to market access. This plan serves as a proactive step by Alberta to increase its external credibility as a vanguard of climate policy and energy stewardship.