Political engagement

A major part of our campaign is to raise awareness of toxic fuels and the environmental and financial risks they pose. A key audience for this awareness raising is government with a view to positively influencing the legislative process. We are therefore engaging with the UK Government and have also engaged with Members of the European Parliament, the Canadian High Commission and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

UK Government

In November 2009, The Co-operative Bank, Insurance and Investments and WWF-UK wrote to Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Buisness Innovation and Skills to call for mandatory greenhouse gas reporting by 2012. The Government has a legal obligation under the Climate Change Act to ensure mandatory reporting by 2012, or to explain why it has not been introduced. Despite this the Government failed to commit to mandatory reporting following its consultation on the issue earlier in the year. A key ask of our Toxic Fuels campaign is that you now contact your MP  to ask that they support the introduction of mandatory reporting by 2012 and raise the issue with Hilary Benn and Peter Mandelson .

In September 2009, The Co-operative Bank, Insurance and Investments, and WWF-UK organised fringe events at the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat party conferences in support of our Toxic Fuels campaign and to mobilise political support for improved greenhouse gas reporting from high emitting companies, such as those operating in Canada’s tar sands.

In August 2009, The Co-operative Bank, Insurance and Investments, and WWF-UK submitted a response to the Government’s consultation on greenhouse gas reporting stating that it should introduce mandatory reporting for business as soon as possible and require the reporting of long-term carbon liabilities from UK listed companies operating in Canada’s tar sands.

In April 2009, an Early Day Motion (EDM) on carbon liability disclosure was tabled in the House of Commons, at the request of The Co-operative Bank, Insurance and Investments and WWF-UK, by Colin Challen MP (Labour) and co-sponsored by Tim Yeo MP (Conservative) and Simon Hughes MP (Liberal Democrats). A key ask of our Toxic Fuels campaign was for supporters to contact their MP to sign the EDM. By November 2009, over 5,500 of you had done so (thankyou if you were one of them) and the EDM had attracted 200 MP signatories with support from all the political parties. The EDM highlighted the high greenhouse gas emissions resulting from tar sands and called for improved reporting on the issue. Click here for the EDM wording and to see whether your MP signed.

In February 2009, as part of the campaign launch, representatives from our campaign and the Beaver Lake Cree Nation met a number of Members of Parliament to highlight the risks tar sand developments pose, both globally in terms of dangerous levels of climate change and locally in terms of First Nation and wildlife impacts.

The MPs we met included members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Canada; the All Party Parliamentary Group on Tribal Peoples; the Government’s Envoy on Carbon Markets; the Liberal Democrat Shadow Climate Minister; and the Climate Change Adviser to the Conservative Energy and Climate Change team. Following the meetings, MPs offered to ask questions of government, highlight our main concerns in parliamentary debates and press for select committee examination of the issues.

As at 1st May 2009, two Parliamentary Questions have been tabled on behalf of the campaign:

1. Question from Rob Marris MP, Vice-chair member of All Party Parliamentary Group on Canada: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will hold discussions with his Canadian federal and provincial counterparts on the quantity of carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the extraction of oil from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada. (263276).

view response:

Response from Joan Ruddock MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be discussing how to limit global carbon dioxide emissions to prevent damaging climate change with all key international partners this year, including Canadian counterparts, given the importance the UK places on securing a global deal at Copenhagen in December. The UK appreciates that every country’s position and needs are different, which is why we support the principle of ‘common but differentiated’ responsibilities—but we nevertheless will be urging all partners to take as much action as they are able to address the threat of damaging climate change. The Federal Government have drafted legislation to introduce targets based on carbon capture and storage (CCS) on oil sands facilities and electricity power stations, which states that new plants from 2012 must be capture ready and using full CCS from 2018. In December 2008 Canada and the UK signed a Joint Statement on CCS, agreeing to work closely to develop and promote CCS technologies. This will involve exchanging experience and information on the development of regulatory frameworks, mechanisms for deploying CCS projects in developed and developing countries and the demonstration of key elements of the CCS chain. We will also share the learning developed from our respective commercial-scale demonstration projects.

2. Question from Rob Marris MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the effects on (a) First Nations and (b) levels of carbon dioxide emissions of extracting oil from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada. (263274).

view response:

Gillian Merron [holding answer 31 March 2009]: We have received reports that First Nation groups are concerned that contamination and water drainage associated with extracting oil from the oil sands could damage the Athabasca/Peace River area. First Nations also dispute, in some cases, the leasing of the land where oil sands are located, arguing the provincial government should consult with them before it grants leases to companies. We have received reports that the current production processes used in the oil sands contribute up to three times the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (primarily carbon dioxide) compared with conventional oil production (based on figures contained in the Pembina Institute's Report Oil Sands Fever November 2005). The Alberta oil sands currently account for approximately 5 per cent of Canada's GHG emissions, though this level is estimated to rise to 16 per cent by 2020 (based on figures contained in the Canadian Government's Turning the Corner Update March 2008). In December 2008 Canada and the UK signed a Joint Statement on Carbon Capture and Storage, agreeing to work closely to develop and promote carbon capture technologies as a means to reducing GHG emissions.

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Members of the European Parliament

In December 2008, The Co-operative wrote to Members of the European Parliament asking that they vote in favour of the EU Fuel Quality Directive and its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (Article 7a). The Co-operative highlighted that the proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard would require suppliers to reduce the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of transport fuels, with reductions of at least 6% achieved by 2020 compared with the 2010 average. The Fuel Quality Directive was passed by the European Parliament on 19th December and will create serious obstacles within the EU to the use of unconventional fossil fuels from 2010

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Canadian High Commission

As part of the campaign launch outside the Canadian Embassy in February 2009, representatives from The Co-operative Bank, Insurance and Investments, and WWF-UK delivered a letter of protest to the Embassy and met with the Canadian High Commissioner regarding tar sands expansion, highlighting the climate change threat this exploitation represents and its impact on pristine boreal forest and local indigenous communities.

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US Securities and Exchange Commission

In February 2009, The Co-operative Asset Management co-signed a collaborative investor and environmental NGO letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its new requirements for oil and gas reserve reporting. The letter called for it to adopt a disclosure framework for reserves that have higher than average lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, such as tar sands. It requested disclosure of geographic location and carbon intensity, highlighting the increased exposure to regulatory and litigation risk such unconventional oil reserves have.

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