Billy Morin, former chief of the Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta, is in Dubai for the COP28 climate conference to proclaim Canada’s “Indigenous Advantage” in carbon capture and storage (CCS). 

“It’s an advantage Canada has come to recognize, whether you are an investment banker on Bay Street or one of the major oil sands companies operating in Fort McMurray. There’s a real benefit gained by involving Indigenous communities and people in your project,” says Morin, managing director with Axxcelus Capital Advisory, which specializes in facilitating equity ownership for Indigenous nations in large energy infrastructure projects.  

“For everybody to win, CCS will require Indigenous involvement…This is a good story to share at COP28 that will make a difference with the rest of the world when it comes to Indigenous involvement in CCS and development of other natural resources.” 

Partnering on CCS 

Industry’s willingness to engage with Indigenous communities on CCS is evident in major deals reached for equity partnerships for new projects in the Edmonton region.  

Last year Enbridge signed an agreement with four Treaty 6 First Nations to partner on the proposed Open Access Wabamun Carbon Hub. The deal also includes a provision for the Lac St. Anne Métis Community to join in future CCUS development.  

Meanwhile, Wolf Midstream and Whitecap Resources signed a similar agreement with those same four Treaty 6 communities – the Alexander First Nation, Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation, Enoch Cree First Nation and Paul First Nation – on a separate CCS hub in the same region.  

A catalyst for those agreements was the Alberta government’s decision to include Indigenous participation as part of its scoring process for new CCS project proposals. 

The province expects proponents to describe benefits for Indigenous communities such as partnerships, skills training, employment and business development.  

Inside the Quest CCS project at Shell’s Scotford Refinery near Edmonton. Photo courtesy Shell Canada

Growing CCS 

CCS facilities around the world today have the capacity to store about 50 million tonnes of CO2 per year. 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Energy Agency and others, to meet climate targets by 2030 the world needs CCS to store one gigatonne of CO2 per year, rising to 10 gigatonnes by 2050.

Morin says success in Canada – particularly in terms of Indigenous engagement – can help other countries deploy the technology.  

“Big companies looking at projects in Africa, Asia or Australia, which has a large Indigenous population as well as opportunities with LNG and CCS, can look to the model we have developed in Canada,” he says. 

“We can create energy and jobs while allowing businesses to make a profit and, at the same time, not have the concerns of Indigenous people or problems with development swept under the rug. That won’t happen anymore.” 

CCS a blank slate for opportunities 

Over in Saskatchewan, John Desjarlais, the executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network, shares Morin’s optimism about the industry’s early successes and its potential for Indigenous communities. 

“We’ve established a good foundation that can be built on and there’s a lot of potential with CCS,” he says. 

“It aligns with our expectation as a society, as well as Indigenous views on land-use stewardship. It takes a long-term view of energy production, which is also important.”  

Desjarlais, a professional engineer and member of the Nehinaw Cree Métis community, is intrigued because CCS is a new industry, a blank canvas on which benefits can be created for Indigenous communities. 

“We do have models for Indigenous engagement and involvement in other industries that CCS projects should adopt, such as uranium mining in northern Saskatchewan or what oil sands operators have done in northeastern Alberta,” he says.  

John Desjarlais, executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network in Bragg Creek, Alta. Photo by Dave Chidley for the Canadian Energy Centre

A promising start 

Morin also sees room for more dialogue about protecting treaty rights with the regulatory regime governing CCS in Canada in its early stages. 

“Both the Alberta government and Alberta Energy Regulator are committed to working with us, but we have to get it right the first time. It’s not going to be easy but anything worth doing is hard,” he says. 

Morin sees the reward of having those difficult conservations as coming to world events such as COP28 with a clear message. 

“This builds on a promising start,” he says.  

“Indigenous involvement ensures everybody wins – communities, business, governments and the natural world around us that we are seeking to protect.” 

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Canada may be a leader in carbon capture and storage, but Beth (Hardy) Valiaho isn’t going to the COP28 summit in Dubai to brag.  

The vice-president of policy, regulatory and stakeholder relations for the International CCS Knowledge Centre based in Regina, Saskatchewan, says Canada’s role is to share the experience of how to successfully deploy CCS so it can be used to reduce emissions on a global scale.  

“The value of taking the Canadian story to COP is being able to communicate how you can help these other countries,” Valiaho says.  

“I think COP gives us a reason to reflect on the impact we can have globally. Our ability to take lessons learned and bring them to these other countries cannot be overlooked.” 

Canada is one of only a few regions in the world to have large-scale CCS operations.  

Since 2000, projects in Saskatchewan and Alberta have safely stored more than 52 million tonnes of CO2 that would have otherwise been emitted into the atmosphere.  

These include the world’s first CCS facility on a coal-fired power plant at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam power station, and the largest-capacity CO2 pipeline on the planet, the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line. 

The CO2 is captured from a variety of sources including coal power generation, oil processing, and fertilizer production, and transported by pipeline for permanent storage deep underground.  

CCS development in Canada is accelerating. In Alberta, construction is well underway by Air Products on a new $1.6 billion net zero hydrogen complex using CCS that will support renewable diesel production.  

Dow Chemical has announced it will proceed with a new $6.5 billion net zero petrochemical plant that will incorporate CCS to remove emissions while producing the base materials for everyday items like packaging and hygiene products. 

Capital Power announced last December a limited notice to proceed for its $2.3 billion Genesee CCS project, and Heidelberg Materials continues to advance the world’s first CCS project on a cement plant in Edmonton.  

And through the Pathways Alliance, the oil sands industry is advancing environmental assessments, early-stage engineering work and stakeholder engagement that is necessary to receive permits for construction for one of the world’s largest CCS projects. 

Valiaho says the varied experience of carbon capture operations, as well as the regulatory and funding mechanisms that support development in Canada, is critically important as industries around the world seek to incorporate CCS.  

Beth (Hardy) Valiaho, vice-president of policy, regulatory and stakeholder relations with the International CCS Knowledge Centre. Photo by Dave Chidley for the Canadian Energy Centre

“It’s not just plugging in a technology. Every situation is unique and different,” she says.  

“Those are invaluable lessons that we can share that make or break these projects going forward.” 

Dubai is the seventh COP for Valiaho, who holds a master’s degree in climate change law and is the former acting director of climate change for the government of Saskatchewan.  

At the event, expected to draw up to 70,000 people from around the world, the Knowledge Centre is co-hosting the official side event on CCS, along with several other panel discussions that will explore a wide range of CCS topics. 

“What I encourage is that we have this global view at COP as opposed to how are we meeting Canada’s targets. This is also very key and an important thing that journalists and Canadians are very focused on, but there’s a bigger message that can be delivered,” Valiaho says.  

She says CCS development supports so-called intergenerational equity. 

“It’s about giving rights to people in the future who are not here today to defend themselves, which is really similar to the Indigenous Seven Generations principle,” says Valiaho, who grew up in Newfoundland and has a strong connection to the environment through her Indigenous heritage. 

“[CCS] relates to the transition of trying to figure out how to make solutions for the future. We can’t just shut everything down today. There’s a long lead time required for CCS development and there are important social and economic aspects for communities that we need to consider in all of this.” 

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