Alberta Premier Danielle Smith gives a keynote address at the the LNG2023 conference in Vancouver, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her province has begun talks with British Columbia on expanding the reach of Canadian natural gas in the global market.
Smith says she and B.C. counterpart David Eby began the discussion two weeks ago to explore leveraging Article 6 of the United Nations Paris Accord, which allows Canada to gain carbon credits for reducing emissions abroad.
Speaking on the final day of the international LNG 2023 conference in Vancouver, Smith says she wants to see Alberta and B.C. “pioneer” a way to use Article 6 to spur more natural-gas export projects that would supply Asia and reduce carbon emissions there.
The massive LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C., a $40-billion-dollar project that is about 85 per cent complete, is the only such export facility under construction in Canada and is scheduled to begin delivery mid-decade.
Smith says delegates told her at the conference that many countries in Asia cannot meet emission reduction goals without LNG, and the goal should be for Canada to fill – and benefit from – that gap.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2023.