BANFF — It’s a case of more is less when it comes to fuelling the energy transition, especially when it comes to Alberta’s oil and gas, a noted US energy analyst told the Global Business Forum here on Thursday..Arjun Murti, a partner with Veriten, a New York-based consultancy that advises world leaders on the energy transition, told the forum the so-called drive to ‘net-zero’ is wrongly being framed with arbitrary targets and meaningless deadlines by the rich 10% of countries that consume half the world’s energy..Instead, the real issue — and ultimate solution to the climate problem — is to ensure the energy security of the 80% of the world that doesn’t have it. And that means more — not less — Canadian oil and gas..“While we have situations both with US and Canada where there's this, ‘keep it in the ground mentality’, as if that's going to make any difference at all. I would say the world needs our oil and gas in it, especially Canadian oil and gas,” he said to applause..“I think Canadian oil and gas is going to be amongst the cleanest, with strong labour standards and competitive jobs for Canadians."."It's going to be some of the quote, ‘most ESG friendly’ — and I think it's an overused phrase, but in this case, it's accurate when the most ESG friendly barrels and molecules of gas that are out there anywhere in the world” are coming from Canada.".Murti said governments in both Canada and the US are too obsessed with absolute emissions and not enough on the conditions needed to reduce them, apart from imposing energy poverty on people who can least afford it..If developing countries such as China and India are ever to reduce their own emissions, they’re going to have to build the energy systems needed to do it..Although both are big energy consumers in their own right, on a per capita basis they use less than a tenth of the energy Western nations do. Imposing arbitrary targets becomes a form of centuries old colonialism..“One of the big issues with this whole greenhouse gas discussion is that the Canadian government I think, let me critique the US government instead. I think the US government does a poor job of differentiating emissions that come from development versus that which comes from consumption by consumers driving their cars and flying in airplanes,” he explained..“It's not a close call. The emissions are going to come from those Asian countries as economic development — which they should and have the right to — that is social and economic justice."."It's frankly environmental justice to have those countries develop. The fact Canada and the US are obsessed with the total emissions, of which oil and gas is going to be a large portion of, absolutely will be produced in Saudi United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, Russia.”.“It should be produced in Canada, under Canadian labour law, Canadian environmental law and a Pathways Alliance… the world needs Canadian oil and gas. It's not a close call.”
