Why won’t Freeland rule out fossil fuels in clean investment definitions? – National Observer

May 2, 2024

Finance and environmental experts say Finance Canada is undermining sustainable investment with a multi-year effort to include fossil fuels in guidelines intended to help capital flow to clean alternatives.

The guidelines would be Canada’s forthcoming sustainable finance taxonomy — a classification system that defines what types of investments count as “green” or “transition-related.” Budget 2024 confirmed Ottawa will provide an update sometime this year, but failed to offer any details about what the taxonomy might include or specific publication timelines.

A taxonomy does not restrict funding for fossil fuel projects. It simply defines what counts as sustainable and what doesn’t in order to allow sustainable projects to receive better financial terms as banks increasingly earmark capital for clean projects. For climate advocates, tipping the business case toward renewables and away from fossil fuels by using a taxonomy is a crucial missing piece in Canada’s climate strategy.

Read More: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/05/02/news/why-wont-freeland-rule-out-fossil-fuels-clean-investment-definitions