Canada 49
ecological indicators the community was interested in studying since they
observed drastic changes in the population (the availability of these species) that
had directly impacted the community’s way of life: moose, fisher, native fish, and
edible berries. These indicators were not typically part of the government’s
indicators for climate change action, which primarily consists of CO 2 emissions.
The views and thoughts presented for this pathway correspond to the authors’ own
analysis to the best of our knowledge, and do not reflect the formal stands of the
Fort McKay First Nation or any of its members not listed as authors on this piece.
The third pathway, deployment of distributed renewables, is proposed by the
Energy Futures Lab, a branch of The Natural Step Canada, an NGO that pushes an
agenda to promote a sustainable transition in Alberta. The Energy Futures Lab is a
platform that brings together a diverse range of partner organisations including
industry, government, NGOs, and Indigenous communities. The proposed pathway
is supported by energy associations, city economic development organisations, and
electricity systems operators.
Aside from including existing policies and research initiatives, we have
independently carried out 17 open- ended interviews with stakeholders over the
period of November 2016 to April 2018: academics (four interviews), Indigenous
community members (six interviews), industry players (five interviews), a nonprofit organisation (one interview), and a policymaker (one interview).
We also carried out a risk elicitation by capturing the opinion of stakeholders
during two public workshops. The first workshop was part of an existing
conference, the Alberta Ecotrust Environmental Gathering. Researchers carried
out a ‘Solution forum’ to explore how consensus can be reached within groups
with various perspectives about sustainable development of natural resources in
Alberta. The event took placed at Mount Royal University on 10 March 2018.
There was a total of 24 participants. The attendees consisted of government
bodies, politicians, industry members, researchers, and NGOs. Reponses were
captured through small group role- playing exercises and a live polling.
The second workshop, ‘Creating a common language for lower- carbon futures
in Alberta’, was organised within an existing seminar series run by the Graduate
Colleges at the University of Calgary. The workshops consisted of a panel
discussion. The interview panel including an industry representative, a policy
consultant, an Elder from the Fort McKay community, a representative from the
Fort McKay Sustainability Office, and an academic. The panel discussion took
place on 12 March 2018.
Lower- carbon futures for the Alberta oil sands
This narrative considers three lower- carbon pathways for the Alberta energy
sector including the Alberta oil sands: ‘cap the emissions hat’, developed as the
government of Alberta’s formal stance on capping emissions in the oil sands
sector; ‘hold your horses’, which is inspired by the collective desired future to
pace oil sand development of the Fort McKay community, representing over
775 Dene, Cree, and Métis people; and ‘mix and round it all up’, created from a
combination of views that includes renewable and alternative energy while
ecological indicators the community was interested in studying since they
observed drastic changes in the population (the availability of these species) that
had directly impacted the community’s way of life: moose, fisher, native fish, and
edible berries. These indicators were not typically part of the government’s
indicators for climate change action, which primarily consists of CO 2 emissions.
The views and thoughts presented for this pathway correspond to the authors’ own
analysis to the best of our knowledge, and do not reflect the formal stands of the
Fort McKay First Nation or any of its members not listed as authors on this piece.
The third pathway, deployment of distributed renewables, is proposed by the
Energy Futures Lab, a branch of The Natural Step Canada, an NGO that pushes an
agenda to promote a sustainable transition in Alberta. The Energy Futures Lab is a
platform that brings together a diverse range of partner organisations including
industry, government, NGOs, and Indigenous communities. The proposed pathway
is supported by energy associations, city economic development organisations, and
electricity systems operators.
Aside from including existing policies and research initiatives, we have
independently carried out 17 open- ended interviews with stakeholders over the
period of November 2016 to April 2018: academics (four interviews), Indigenous
community members (six interviews), industry players (five interviews), a nonprofit organisation (one interview), and a policymaker (one interview).
We also carried out a risk elicitation by capturing the opinion of stakeholders
during two public workshops. The first workshop was part of an existing
conference, the Alberta Ecotrust Environmental Gathering. Researchers carried
out a ‘Solution forum’ to explore how consensus can be reached within groups
with various perspectives about sustainable development of natural resources in
Alberta. The event took placed at Mount Royal University on 10 March 2018.
There was a total of 24 participants. The attendees consisted of government
bodies, politicians, industry members, researchers, and NGOs. Reponses were
captured through small group role- playing exercises and a live polling.
The second workshop, ‘Creating a common language for lower- carbon futures
in Alberta’, was organised within an existing seminar series run by the Graduate
Colleges at the University of Calgary. The workshops consisted of a panel
discussion. The interview panel including an industry representative, a policy
consultant, an Elder from the Fort McKay community, a representative from the
Fort McKay Sustainability Office, and an academic. The panel discussion took
place on 12 March 2018.
Lower- carbon futures for the Alberta oil sands
This narrative considers three lower- carbon pathways for the Alberta energy
sector including the Alberta oil sands: ‘cap the emissions hat’, developed as the
government of Alberta’s formal stance on capping emissions in the oil sands
sector; ‘hold your horses’, which is inspired by the collective desired future to
pace oil sand development of the Fort McKay community, representing over
775 Dene, Cree, and Métis people; and ‘mix and round it all up’, created from a
combination of views that includes renewable and alternative energy while