Canadians see China as green partner

As China pushes ahead in its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, influential figures in Canada believe there is a major opportunity for the two countries to collaborate in the battle against climate change.

"There has been historic and win-win cooperation between Canada and China in the area of climate plans," said Mark Carney, vice-chair of Brookfield Asset Management, who spoke recently with Canadian Ambassador to China Dominic Barton, a former global managing partner at consultancy McKinsey.

During their conversation, the two men explored opportunities in areas such as green energy and agri-food, as well as the challenges nations face on climate change.

Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, said his company has a relationship with China on wind and solar energy, and Chinese expertise and products are part of that. "Meanwhile, the evolution of the Canadian energy complex and its ability to provide technologies including new fuels, green hydrogen and others can bring an economic shift in the near future; all of these are huge opportunities for us and our Chinese partners," Carney said.

Carney said efficient agriculture and nature-based solutions are relevant to climate change efforts, and Canadian and Chinese expertise can build on the progress made.

"There're just a host of opportunities of renewable build or the low-carbon build in China," Carney said. "The energy infrastructure alone has $2 trillion a year ramps up to that. It's an enormous number (that) takes capital and expertise in China. That is a big opportunity for Canadians as a whole," said Carney.

China is working toward being the top generator of solar power, and the country's wind power installations were more than triple those of any other country in 2020.

China has said the proportion of its energy generated from nonfossil fuel sources should be 25 percent by 2030, and it is expected by many observers to hit the target early.

Talking about the opportunity for Canada to tap into China's energy transition, Carney said he sees an important role for natural gas, particularly the initial transition from coal to gas, and Canada can play a broader role.

Because a reduced carbon footprint can be pursued in almost every sector of China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and beyond, the opportunities exist along a continuum in sustainably mined minerals, electric vehicles, or EVs, or lower carbon-footprint energy.

Economic benefits

Canadian companies that can contribute to China's environmental goals will reap the economic benefits, according to experts at a business forum hosted by the Canada China Business Council recently.

Linda Hasenfratz, chief executive of Linamar Corp, whose company has been active in China for about 15 years with about 1,500 employees there, said that engaging China is a key part of her company's global growth strategy.

"China is by far the largest automotive market in the world. It's become an exciting market in terms of the evolution of EV," Hasenfratz told the forum. "So, definitely it was a great position for us to locate there. And we see a lot of growth potential, not just in automotive, but also in other markets."

Don Kayne, president and chief executive of Canfor, a wood-building solutions provider in Vancouver, said at the forum that China has been a critically important market for the company.

"It looks pretty positive China's new 14th Five-Year Plan and the theme around reducing energy consumption and decarbonization," said Kayne, whose company has been engaged with China for more than 20 years, and 20-25 percent of his business in China.

"Being such a major uranium producer that we are, there're long-term opportunities in China as we look to China to fulfill its nuclear energy requirements around the utilities going forward."

Although China's emissions per person are about half those of the US, by this measure, its 1.4 billion population and explosive economic growth mean it is facing the challenge of reducing its emissions.

Vivi Hou, president and chief executive of Power Sustainable China, who spent 30 years in Canada and is now focused on sustainability and sustainable investing in China, stressed that sustainability has become China's top priority.

China is committed to realizing peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, Hou noted.

"And to achieve this commitment, a rough estimate of relevant investment is going to be around 100 trillion yuan ($15.7 trillion) accumulated in total," said Hou. "So this is around 1.5 percent to 2 percent of this country's ... GDP. And China can actually afford it."