Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and members of the committee for the opportunity to appear this morning.
Let me start by saying a little bit about GHGSat. We're a small SME that was established in 2011 as a private sector solution to climate change. We are headquartered in Montreal, with offices in Ottawa and Calgary, and we now have international offices in Houston and London, England.
Our vision of GHGSat is to use satellites to become the global reference for the remote sensing of greenhouse gas emissions from any source in the world, thereby enabling stakeholders in the energy, resource, power generation, agricultural, waste management and sustainability sectors to make informed environmental decisions.
While there are obviously other satellites up there in space that also measure greenhouse gases, satellites from NASA and from the European Space Agency, for example, it's kind of a neat and remarkable fact that GHGSat, a Canadian SME, is currently the only private sector or government entity in the world that has satellites capable of high-resolution greenhouse gas measurement down to a resolution of only 25 metres. Our satellites—these Canadian satellites—are the only ones that can measure greenhouse gas emissions from sources as small as individual gas wells. This is a critical capability for attribution.
Space technology is going to play an increasingly important role in Canada’s transition to greener and more sustainable practices and to building back better. Out of the 50 essential climate variables identified by the World Meteorological Organization as needed to monitor climate change, 26 of these variables can only be effectively observed from space. Environmental satellites are therefore directly aligned with the goals of Canada’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, specifically for taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts—which is goal number 13—and promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation, per goal 9.
When we talk about fields of technology, be it space technology or green technology, there are two ways in which the Government of Canada can play a role in nurturing innovation and expanding sustainable trade opportunities. The first is by investing in early-stage research and development. The second is by being an early adopter of new innovations, thereby lowering the risk and allowing the private sector to bring their new products and services to the international market.
Canada is a world leader in supporting early-stage R and D in both industry and academia. As an example of that, the innovative technology behind our methane monitoring satellites was developed with the support of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, the Canadian Space Agency and the industrial research assistance program of the National Research Council.
To ensure that Canada builds back better during the post-COVID economic recovery, an area of improvement for the Government of Canada would be to support industry beyond the initial R and D phase. One of the most effective measures that could be undertaken in this regard is to be an early adopter of new innovations and, furthermore, to be an ongoing anchor customer for green and sustainable technologies. This would strengthen Canadian competitiveness and expand trade opportunities, because one of the first things that a prospective customer asks internationally is whether a new product or service has been adopted by the domestic market.
There are examples of anchor tendency in the field of environmental satellites that we are familiar with, such as the NASA commercial small satellite data acquisition program in the U.S. or the third party missions programme of the European Space Agency.
This is going to be a pivotal year for Canada as we look forward to COP26 in November. One of the high-profile projects expected to come out of this UN climate conference is the International Methane Emissions Observatory—or IMEO—which is the project of the UN Environment Programme that is seeking contributions precisely of satellite data to identify methane super-emitters and thereby provide actionable data for diplomatic follow-up.
In recent months, we at GHGSat have been engaged with the relevant Government of Canada departments to discuss the potential of providing Canadian satellite methane data to the IMEO as a very highly visible demonstration of our country's commitment to fighting climate change.
To conclude, and to reiterate what some of the earlier speakers have said, the success of our post-pandemic recovery and the industrial transition to greener and more sustainable practices go hand in hand with both the government and the private sector as partners in this endeavour to build back better.
This concludes my prepared remarks, and I look forward to taking your questions.