Podcast: The greening of Shell Canada

The energy giant's Canadian president talks about its net-zero plans

At the National Arts Centre last week, I interviewed Susannah Pierce, the President and Country Chair of Shell Canada.

The timing was auspicious. The COP27 climate talks in Egypt were underway. The presence of oil companies at the conference in any other capacity besides that of cartoon villain was enough to make headlines. In the circumstances, interviewing the head of an energy company felt slightly controversial.

Similarly, I know people who won’t be pleased that just about all of our conversation was about Shell Canada’s efforts to drastically cut its carbon emissions, as though an energy company’s highest calling were to please its critics.

But I think it was a conversation worth having. Shell’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050 may sound distant, but it’s preoccupying Pierce and her team already. At the same time, the commitments of companies like shell are drawing high-level skepticism, notably from this high-level United Nations panel chaired by Canada’s former environment minister, Catherine McKenna.

So we had a lot to talk about. One surprising moment: Pierce’s insistence that any change to the Liberal government’s schedule of carbon-tax increases throws uncertainty into her business plans that she’d rather avoid.

This week’s episode consists almost entirely of audio from the evening at the NAC, including my hearty recommendation that attendees enjoy the cheese platters. Here’s the episode on Apple Podcasts:

And here’s where to find The Paul Wells Show on other platforms.

As always, I have many people to thank.

Our Founding Sponsor is Telus. Our Title Sponsor is Compass Rose. Our Ottawa partner is the National Arts Centre, who were fantastic hosts for this event as always. As Journalist Fellow-in-Residence at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, I benefit from their tremendous support and suggestions. Antica Productions handles production for the podcast. The Toronto Star and iPolitics distribute and promote The Paul Wells Show. Kevin Breit recorded and performed the music.

Thanks to them all. If you like what you hear there or read here, please tell a friend.

A final note: At the end of this week’s episode, I say I’m taking a break until the new year. This morning we had a staff meeting with my partners at Antica and we decided to keep going into December, to help people get into the habit of listening to the podcast. So disregard my claims to be taking a break. I’ll be back next week with another new episode.