Public finance is a key tool used by governments to fund critical infrastructure needed to transition to renewable energy as well as direct capital and influence private investors' decisions. Ending public financing for fossil fuels is a critical driver of the energy transition. This report examines the scope of public financing for the fossil fuel sector in Canada and makes recommendations for Canada's forthcoming policy to eliminate this financing.
Authors
- Published in
- Canada
- Rights
- IISD, 2024
Table of Contents
- Introduction 5
- Public Financing as a Critical Driver of the Energy Transition 5
- Defining Public Finance for Fossil Fuels in Canada 6
- Institutions Providing Public Finance to the Fossil Fuel Sector 7
- Scale of Domestic Public Finance for Fossil Fuels in Canada 8
- Transparency, Reporting, and Accountability 10
- Redirecting Investments Toward Renewable Energy and Climate Solutions 10
- Recommendations for Canada’s Domestic Public Finance Policy 11
- Conclusion 16
- References 17
- Appendix A 21
- Figure 1. Canadian domestic public finance for fossil fuels compared to renewable energy by annual average 2017–2022 in CAD 9
- Figure 2. Portion of public financing for fossil fuels by mechanism (2020–2022) 9
- Table A1. Known domestic public finance for energy from Canadian institutions, CAD millions, annual average 2020–2022 21
- Table A2. Top 20 domestic fossil fuel transactions 2020–2022 21
