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Pathways Alliance committed to Earth Day theme to “Invest in our planet” 

ou can say Canada’s oil sands industry is heavily invested in this year’s Earth Day. 

The 2023 theme “Invest in our planet” holds a special meaning for an industry with a commitment and track record of spending significantly on technological innovation to reduce its environmental footprint. 

“Pathways Alliance and its member companies recognize and share the deep respect people have for the air, land, and water in the communities near our operations and are committed to collaboration and ongoing investment to minimize our impacts and improve performance,” said Kendall Dilling, president of Pathways Alliance. 

“We produce a resource the world will need for decades to come. But that comes with the recognition that we must continue to minimize the disturbance of our operations and continue to raise the bar on responsible development.” 

Between 2012 and 2021, Pathways Alliance’s six member companies invested more than $10 billion on R&D on various technologies.  

Through Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), the innovation arm of Pathways Alliance, we have brought together thought leaders from industry, government and academia to improve measurement, accountability and environmental performance across the four priority areas: emissions, land, tailings and water. 

Our member companies have shared more than 1,000 distinct technologies and invested about $2.1 billion to develop them. 

Our next major challenge is to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions from our operations. 

We have a bold and realistic plan to reduce absolute emissions from oil sands operations by 22 million tonnes annually by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions from operations by 2050.  

With anticipated co-funding from governments, the Pathways Alliance is poised to make a globally significant investment of $24 billion in one of the world’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and other emissions reduction technologies that will help us achieve this ambitious goal. 

“Our focus this Earth Day and for many years to come will be to work with governments, Indigenous groups, and non-governmental organizations alike to achieve both Canada’s full economic potential and meaningful climate action.”