Alberta premier brands federal minister's net-zero speech at oil conference 'tone-deaf'
CBC Expectingto draw around 5,000 delegates from more than 100 countries around the world,the World Petroleum Congress had barelykicked off Sunday before rifts between Alberta and Ottawa concerning energy policy took centre stage.
The World Petroleum Congress is a five-day conference being held in Calgary for first time since 2000.The theme for this year's conference is "Energy Transition: The Path to Net Zero."
During the opening ceremonies on Sunday,CanadianMinister of Energy and Natural ResourcesJonathan Wilkinson told the crowd that, as a global community, in order to reach net-zero emissions by 2050,"meaningful progress" needed to be made by 2030.
"We cannot get to net-zero by 2050 if we begin our journey in 2040," Wilkinson said, according to a copy of his prepared remarks provided by his office on Sunday evening, prior to the speech.
Wilkinson also issueda "call to action" to Canadian oil and gas companies to aggressively take up the challenge of decarbonization.
"A call to action to enhance the long-term competitiveness of the sector while concurrently playing an important role in the global fight against climate change," the remarks read.
