(Above Ground, Ottawa, 15 June 2020) A recent report from Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth U.S. reveals that Canada has become the second-largest public financier of fossil fuels in the G20, second only to China. On a per-capita basis, Canadian public finance for fossil fuels between 2016 and 2018 was the highest in the world. Nearly all of this support came from federal agency Export Development Canada (EDC). These findings bolster growing public concern about EDC’s support for fossil fuels, which has intensified since Ottawa tasked the agency with shepherding additional aid to the oil and gas industry in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The range of voices calling for Canada to redirect its export finance into low-carbon industries now includes lawmakers, civil society organizations and, as we detail below, sustainability experts. As Parliament prepares further stimulus measures in the coming months, it must ensure that Canada’s economic recovery serves to accelerate rather than delay the transition to a low-carbon future.
Above Ground
EDC is bailing out the fossil fuel industry. Will Canadians be given a full accounting of the costs?
(Above Ground, Ottawa, 4 May 2020) 2020 is a pivotal year for wealthy nations to ramp up their climate action plans, spelling out how they’ll make the deep emissions cuts needed between now and 2030. Instead, states are bolstering the very industries that must be phased out to avert disastrous climate breakdown, as high-carbon sectors push for government aid in response to the economic crisis. Canada’s oil and gas lobby has asked for a bailout of up to $30 billion. On April 17 Ottawa announced a package that includes new loans and guarantees to mid-sized oil and gas firms, to be delivered by Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), as well as funding for clean-up of spent wells and loans for emissions reductions. It also indicated further credit support for the largest oil and gas companies is still being planned. Oil and gas companies also stand to benefit from the aid that Ottawa has made available across sectors, such as the 75% wage subsidy program and the $65 billion Business Credit Availability Program also from EDC and BDC. A broad base of Canadian academics and civil society advocates have argued that economic support measures should directly benefit workers, not companies, and they mustn’t delay the phaseout of an industry that’s fuelling the climate emergency, which already claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Observers have long called attention to the lack of transparency in EDC’s operations, with a recent Globe and Mail exposé reporting a “pattern of secrecy” and “lax supervision” of the agency by the federal government.
Coastal GasLink pipeline gets loan of up to $500M from Canada’s EDC
(Toronto Star, Ottawa, 4 May 2020) EDC will lend between $250 and $500 million to build the Coastal GasLink, a natural gas pipeline that sparked a national protest movement and reckoning over the Liberal administration’s commitment to Indigenous reconciliation. The company building the 670-km pipeline, Calgary-based TC Energy, said in a statement to the Star that the deal includes a “syndicate of banks” that will fund the majority of the $6.6-billion project’s construction cost. The deal is entirely unwelcome to Na’Moks, a hereditary chief of the Wet’suwet’en nation in northern British Columbia. The Wet’suwe’ten opposition gained national prominence after RCMP arrests this winter triggered a huge solidarity movement that saw Mohawk demonstrators block rail lines in Ontario and Quebec and supporters stage rallies in cities across the country. Some elected band councils signed agreements to support the project but the Wet’suwe’ten traditional leadership has spearheaded opposition to the pipeline for years.
Article: Eye on EDC: Fuelling the oil sands
Article: Eye on EDC: Fuelling the oil sands
Canada: Stop EDC investing in environmental and human rights harm
(Amnesty International, Ottawa, 14 March 2020) In 2016, Export Development Canada – a crown corporation that claims its transactions are “environmentally and socially responsible” – approved millions of dollars in loans to Empresas Públicas de Medellin, the company building the HidroItuango dam. The Hidroituango dam cuts across the Cauca River in a region of Colombia hard hit by decades of armed conflict and grave human rights violations. The financing was approved despite warnings by experts, human rights organizations and local communities. Ríos Vivos, a grassroots movement of families dependent on the Cauca River for their food and livelihoods, has courageously denounced social and environmental impacts of the dam. They’ve also reported forced evictions, increased militarization and worsening violence, including the killing of six of their leaders.
Export Development Canada: Out from the shadows
(Above Ground, Ottawa 29 August 2019) For decades, Export Development Canada (EDC) has been subject to minimal public scrutiny, with media and Parliament rarely asking questions about the social and environmental costs of the business it supports. But recently, with some of the agency’s highest-profile clients facing charges of wrongdoing, that’s started to change, prompting reporters and lawmakers to question EDC’s screening practices. EDC is one of the largest export credit agencies in the world, providing roughly $100 billion in loans, insurance and other financial services to Canadian and foreign companies every year. It facilitates business in nearly every sector, including those widely recognized as high-risk for corruption, human rights abuse and environmental harm. Last year over 40 percent of EDC’s support went to companies involved in oil and gas, mining, construction and infrastructure. EDC’s track record of questionable business deals goes back decades. Without strong oversight of EDC’s operations, the government runs the risk of facilitating harmful and illegal activities that are too often present in these industries. It also risks putting Canada in breach of its international obligations, such as its duty to avoid contributing to human rights abuse.
Federal review of EDC finds inadequate disclosure practices
(Globe and Mail, Toronto, 2 July 2019) A federal review of Export Development Canada has exposed serious shortcomings at the Crown corporation, noting its disclosure practices fall far short of other financial institutions, and that the agency is not legally obligated to consider the environmental or human-rights impact of the financial support it provides to exporters. The findings underscore concerns uncovered in a recent Globe and Mail investigation. The Globe reported that the EDC’s client roster includes companies that have faced allegations concerning corruption, human-rights violations and environmental abuses; the federal agency has demonstrated a tendency to continue supporting such companies after other financial institutions have sanctioned them or cut them loose. Critics have also raised concerns about transparency and federal oversight of the Crown corporation. “Ottawa must impose rules on this Crown corporation to make it transparent and accountable,” Lori Waller, spokesperson for Ottawa-based human rights group Above Ground, said in a statement. “Without strong oversight of its export credit agency, the government risks profiting from harmful and illegal business activities. The law should prohibit EDC from supporting companies involved in corruption, human rights abuse or environmental harm.”
New EDC human-rights policy lacks power, say workers and watchdogs
(National Post, Ottawa, May 2019) OTTAWA — Export Development Canada is declaring itself a leading defender of human rights, but workers groups and advocates say the Crown agency’s long-awaited new policy falls well short of what’s needed. The United Steel Workers of Canada declared it a missed chance to show leadership in global finance, business and human rights. The arrival of the new policy comes as Canadian businesses and human-rights advocates await a legal review by International Trade Minister Jim Carr that will determine the powers of the government’s new “ombudsperson for responsible enterprise.” Karen Hamilton, the spokeswoman for Above Ground, a non-governmental agency that specializes in tracking human rights infractions involving businesses, said the group hopes Carr’s legal review leads to a change in EDC’s legislation to make stronger human rights obligations mandatory. “If we really want to see change, it has to be legislated,” Hamilton said.
With new limits on coal but none on oil and gas, EDC’s climate policy misses the mark
(Above Ground, Ottawa, 12 February 2019) In January Export Development Canada (EDC) released a new climate change policy. The policy commits EDC to further limit its coal-related investments and increase its support for clean technologies. It does not, however, put in place a clear path to reducing – let alone phasing out – the billions of dollars of support that EDC provides to the oil and gas sector each year. EDC’s support for fossil fuel companies is fundamentally at odds with Canada’s international obligations on climate change. To address this contradiction, last year more than a dozen civil society groups including Above Ground recommended that EDC phase out its support for coal, oil and gas projects; companies significantly reliant on coal; and companies whose primary business is in coal, oil or gas. We also recommended that EDC commit to achieving a sharp reduction in GHG emissions across its business portfolio. Instead, EDC has renewed its commitment to support carbon-intense sectors, including the oil and gas industry.
