La catégorisation des projets pétrogaziers selon la taxonomie des investissements climatiques du Canada, gage d’une transition harmonieuse

The Canadian Climate Institute outlines a proposed framework to integrate oil and gas projects into the Sustainable Finance Action Council's (SFAC) climate investment taxonomy. To maintain scientific credibility and avoid 'greenwashing,' the report argues that only decarbonization projects within existing facilities should be eligible for the 'transition' label. It proposes a three-step eligibility process: general corporate requirements (net-zero targets), project-specific requirements (existing facility status and emission intensity alignment with 1.5°C pathways), and 'do no significant harm' criteria. A key proposal is a 50% threshold for downstream Scope 3 emissions to identify projects where demand-side risk is the primary transition risk. The report emphasizes that new oil and gas installations must be excluded to prevent carbon lock-in and align with global net-zero goals.

• Canada needs to increase private and public investments in clean growth projects by 80 to 110 billion dollars annually to meet its climate goals.
• The proposed taxonomy distinguishes between 'green' activities (low or zero emissions) and 'transition' activities, the latter being reserved for decarbonizing high-emission sectors like steel, cement, aluminum, chemicals, and oil and gas.
• To identify projects where the primary transition risk is the decline in global demand, the report proposes a threshold where a project is categorized as an oil and gas project if more than 50% of its life-cycle emissions come from downstream use (combustion).
• New oil and gas installations are deemed ineligible for taxonomy financing because they represent a high risk of 'carbon lock-in' and are incompatible with 1.5°C trajectories.
• For an oil and gas project to be eligible for the 'transition' category, it must be part of an existing facility. For oil sands, this means extraction is already occurring, capital expenditures are committed, and expansions do not require new major infrastructure.
• Eligible projects must demonstrate that their Scope 1 and 2 emission intensities align with 1.5°C representative pathways, using sector-specific emission intensity curves as benchmarks.
• The framework requires that the primary upstream suppliers (Scope 3) of a project also align with 1.5°C trajectories to prevent the outsourcing of emissions.
• The report notes that oil and gas emissions in Canada are exceptionally high; upstream production accounts for over 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions, and including downstream combustion, the sector's emissions represent 125% of the country's total annual emissions.

APA

Arnold, J. (n.d.). La catégorisation des projets pétrogaziers selon la taxonomie des investissements climatiques du Canada, gage d’une transition harmonieuse. Canadian Climate Institute. https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Fueling-the-Transition-FR-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Arnold, Jonathan. La catégorisation des projets pétrogaziers selon la taxonomie des investissements climatiques du Canada, gage d’une transition harmonieuse. Canadian Climate Institute, n.d. https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Fueling-the-Transition-FR-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Arnold |first1=Jonathan |title=La catégorisation des projets pétrogaziers selon la taxonomie des investissements climatiques du Canada, gage d’une transition harmonieuse |publisher=Canadian Climate Institute |url=https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Fueling-the-Transition-FR-FINAL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{arnoldndcatgorisation, author = {Arnold, Jonathan}, title = {{La catégorisation des projets pétrogaziers selon la taxonomie des investissements climatiques du Canada, gage d’une transition harmonieuse}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, url = {https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Fueling-the-Transition-FR-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }