Thank you.
Thank you very much, committee members, for the opportunity to present today.
The upstream oil and gas industry is committed to environmental leadership. We see an important role for our industry in meeting increasing global demand for reliable, affordable and responsibly produced energy while we proactively advance solutions to support Canada's role in addressing climate change.
Growing Canadian oil and natural gas exports and market share is an important solution to the twin challenges of reducing emissions and enhancing global energy security. Canada's upstream oil and natural gas industry, our workers and innovators want to work with the Government of Canada to fulfill this potential. Our industry directly and indirectly employs more than 500,000 talented Canadians in every province. Through their hard work and innovation, Canada produces oil and natural gas, which, according to recent Bank of Montreal capital markets reports, has the top-ranked environmental, social and governance profile, or ESG, among the world's top 10 energy exporters.
In addition, our indigenous partners have an important and growing role in the responsible energy development that we have in Canada. This also provides indigenous communities with opportunities for sustainable prosperity and self-determination. A healthy and innovative oil and natural gas sector is part of reconciliation and plays an important role in economic reconciliation.
Our industry will also continue to work on the technological innovation to support domestic and international emissions reductions as well as other goals. It is therefore vital that the scope, scale and pace of Canada's approach to a just transition aligns with global energy transformations so that Canada is not inadvertently phasing out opportunities, both domestically and internationally, to play a role in global energy security and emissions reduction.
According to the International Energy Agency, the global need and demand for oil and natural gas will continue for decades to come. That is true even in their sustainability scenario and their net-zero scenario. As the global population increases and people all over the world seek to improve their quality of life, safe, reliable and affordable energy is fundamental to such improvements. Thus, one of the most important roles Canada can play in addressing global climate change is displacing coal in the global energy mix with Canadian natural gas exported as liquefied natural gas, or LNG.
An effective approach to managing the impacts from the transformation to a lower-carbon global economy should reflect Canada's unique opportunity to meet future and current increases in global demand for responsibly produced oil and natural gas. This approach should protect and enhance Canadian and global energy security and manage energy affordability impacts.
We therefore suggest that Canada's just transition approach incorporate the following three principles. Support the important role for Canada as a responsible low-emission producer able to meet increasing demands for natural gas and oil and play a key role in global energy security. Recognize and support world-class and skilled workers who will continue to be needed in their roles, even as their capacities expand to additional functions, such as hydrogen production and carbon capture, utilization and storage, to meet our complementary goal of significant emission reductions in Canada. Affirm that the focus of Canada's climate strategy is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that all sectors have a role to play consistent with this effort.
There are important lessons from LNG energy policies made in other jurisdictions that we should learn from. The current European situation highlights the risk of a disorderly energy transition. Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, oil and natural gas prices had been rising as a result of supply shortages and a decline in energy development. An important driver for this decline has been policy signals from governments and the investment community that are misaligned with global energy demand.
Canada's just transition policy should be informed by these realities. It should include performance metrics looking at economic performance and job performance regionally and nationally. It should be informed by regional differences across Canada. It should strive to improve the economics for Canadian industries and advance emission reduction work. It should ensure that the scope, scale and pace of Canada's transition to a lower-carbon economy aligns with global energy transformations.
A collaborative approach is necessary to guide a successful outcome on all of these issues. CAPP stands ready, as a solutions-oriented partner at a pivotal time, to work with Parliament and the government in creating a fair and equitable energy transformation.
Thank you.