FNCI Draft Scenario Outlining Potential for Net-Zero LNG Receives B.C. First Nations Support

PRINCE GEORGE, BC, Jan. 30, 2020  /CNW/ - The First Nations Climate Initiative (FNCI), started by the Lax Kw'alaams Band, Metlakatla First Nation, Nisga'a Nation and Haisla Nation, has released its vision and draft scenario for developing B.C. net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) liquified natural gas (LNG) to achieve local and global climate change targets that make poverty a thing of the past in First Nations communities and builds the infrastructure and innovation for a low carbon economy by 2050.

First Nations Climate Initiative Members (CNW Group/First Nations Climate Initiative)

The FNCI vision is for a world where global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius; Indigenous communities prosper on their own terms; and B.C. shifts to a low carbon economy financed in part by net-zero LNG development. Provincial targets are achieved, and federal and international goals for climate change mitigation are supported through the draft scenario. FNCI members have met with international climate change experts and learned that natural gas is a transition fuel in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency scenarios that achieve less than 2 degrees of global warming.

Their draft scenario includes the implications of building additional LNG facilities in Haisla territory as well as additional facilities in Coast Tsimshian and Nisga'a territory. The draft scenario outlines how B.C. LNG can be produced without a net increase in provincial emissions, referred to as net-zero LNG.

Key strategies for producing net-zero LNG in B.C. in the draft scenario include:

• Electrification of the natural gas infrastructure with renewable power generation that will provide energy (through hydroelectricity, solar, wind and geothermal) as B.C. transitions to a low carbon economy, that is no longer based on fossil fuel use;
• Reduction of GHG emissions (fugitive methane reductions) from the existing and future natural gas industry;
• Use of available carbon capture and storage technologies;
• Nature-based projects that rehabilitate ecosystems across the north allowing them to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while simultaneously restoring First Nations' traditional territories.

First Nations participation, ownership and partnerships are assumed in all aspects of the draft scenario to ensure the economic benefits flow to First Nations' communities and non-First Nations communities alike including in gas and LNG infrastructure, electricity transmission and generation, restoration and nature-based projects.

The next steps for the FNCI is to continue to collaborate with First Nations, other levels of Government, climate experts, proponents, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders to further refine this scenario and develop new ones and then shape these scenarios that will be based on differing volumes of net zero LNG production in different locations. These scenarios will then inform collaborative development of policy proposal for all to consider supporting.

None of the scenarios are proposals and they do not imply support or non-support for any project.

Quotes
We met with First Nations from across northern B.C. to share the scenario and provide opportunities for input. We see the impacts of climate change in our traditional territories – from threatened salmon runs and crab populations, to forest fires and changing forest ecosystems – and we are united in our collective goal to address it, locally and globally, while alleviating the poverty of our Nations. – Eva Clayton, President, Nisga'a Nation.

Although our B.C. LNG already has the lowest GHG footprint in the world measured on a full life cycle basis, we can make it even better by investing in carbon capture technology and renewable electricity generation capacity and transmission as indicated in our scenario. – Crystal Smith, Chief Councillor, Haisla Nation.

We want these industries to be the best in the world with respect to their environmental standards while helping us alleviate poverty. Using net-zero LNG as a climate change and poverty mitigation strategy sets us up for a future low carbon economy and puts reconciliation into action. – Harold Leighton, Chief Councillor, Metlakatla First Nation.

FNCI is a unique collaboration not only with our members but with other governments and a wide-range of experts and stakeholders. By working together, we can build an opportunity that delivers tremendous benefit not only to First Nations but to B.C., Canada and the world. – Harold Leighton, Chief Councillor, Metlakatla First Nation.

Lax Kw'alaams Band
Lax Kw'alaams community is located in the northwest coast of B.C., approximately 20 km north of Prince Rupert. The Lax Kw'alaams Band are members of the Nine Tribes of the Coast Tsimshian. The name, Lax Kw'alaams, derives from Laxłgu'alaams, which means 'place of the small roses' in Sm'algyax, the language of the Coast Ts'msyen (Tsimshian). For more information visit: laxkwalaams.ca.

Metlakatla First Nation
Metlakatla village is located 5 km north of Prince Rupert, on an ancient site - occupied for thousands of years. The Metlakatla Band are members of the Nine Tribes of the Coast Tsimshian. Metlakatla means 'saltwater pass' in Sm'algyax, the language of the Coast Ts'msyen (Tsimshian). For more information visit: metlakatla.ca.

Nisga'a Nation
The Nisg̱a'a Nation is represented by Nisg̱a'a Lisims Government (NLG) – a modern, forward thinking administration based on traditional culture and values. The Nisg̱a'a Final Agreement is the first modern treaty in British Columbia to provide constitutional certainty in respect of an Aboriginal people's section 35 right to self-government. Nisg̱a'a Government is comprised of NLG, the four Nisg̱a'a Village Governments of GItlax̱t'aamiks, Gitwinksihlkw, Lax̱g̱alts'ap and Ging̱olx, and the three Nisg̱a'a Urban Local areas of Terrace, Prince Rupert/Port Edward and Vancouver. For more information visit: nisgaanation.ca.

Haisla Nation
The Haisla, meaning "dwellers downriver," have occupied lands for over 9,000 years. Today, the Haisla people are centered on Kitamaat Village. Kitamaat Village sits at the head of the Douglas Channel in British Columbia. Today's Haisla Nation is an amalgamation of two historic bands – the Kitamaat of the Douglas and Devastation Channels and the Kitlope of the upper Princess Royal Channel and Gardner Canal. For more information visit: Haisla.ca. 

Backgrounder

The First Nations Climate Initiative was formed in September 2019 by the leadership of the Haisla Nation, Lax Kw'alaams Band, Metlakatla First Nation and the Nisga'a Nation. 

Over the past five months, the FNCI has held collaborative information sessions with international and local climate change experts together with leaders from government, industry, academia and environmental groups. As a result, it has drafted a draft scenario where B.C. produces net-zero LNG which does not add to emissions but rather meets or exceeds provincial GHG reduction targets.

Through the collaborative information sessions, FNCI has learned that net-zero LNG can be produced in B.C. to achieve the following five objectives:

1. Contribute to implementing the internationally recognized strategies to limit global warming below two degrees;
2. Attract tens of billions of dollars in investment into B.C.;
3. Enable Indigenous people to get out of poverty and achieve economic self-determination;
4. Pay for restoration of ecosystems in First Nations' traditional territories as carbon sinks and help B.C. and Canada meet their GHG reduction targets;
5. Build the energy systems and develop the technologies that are necessary for the future low-carbon economy that is essential to our future.

This draft scenario is consistent with provincial CleanBC objectives, the federal Pan-Canadian Framework, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change/International Energy Association scenarios that achieve sub-2-degree Celsius warming of global average temperatures. It could result in net reductions in global GHG emissions of 160 to 225 million tonnes (Mt) per year if it is used to displace thermal coal in Asia.

Key elements of this draft scenario include:

1. Net-Zero LNG. 46.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in Kitimat and Skeena, Nass, Prince Rupert regions;
2. Electrification. Development of renewable energy sources such as off- and onshore wind, geothermal and hydroelectric power, and new transmission infrastructure to electrify the gas production and pipelines and LNG facilities. The draft scenario would need 18,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity equivalent to 3.5 Site C hydroelectric dams. Once developed this energy would be available to help with the shift to a low carbon economy, for example by electrifying the conversion of natural gas to hydrogen and carbon for fuels and other zero emission products;
3. Methane Emission Reduction. Further reducing fugitive methane from the new regulated target of 4 per cent;
4. Carbon Capture by Ecosystems. Restoration and rehabilitation of ecosystems as carbon sinks, i.e. "nature-based projects". The disturbance footprint associated with gas development in the scenario is estimated at 12,000 hectares of well pads and 10,000 kilometers of right-of-way for roads and pipelines. This adds to a legacy of past disturbance that includes 300,000 kilometers of linear disturbance. There is also a significant disturbance legacy in central and coastal B.C. from past development such as the mountain pine beetle harvest.
5. Carbon Capture and Storage. Remove C02 from natural gas and store it in sedimentary rock, where gas originates.

FNCI Draft Scenario - Key Elements
Net-Zero LNG	46.5 MTPA total, in addition to LNG Canada Phase 1
Electrification	Upgraded transmission lines to Kitimat and Skeena/Nass/Prince Rupert Twin 500 kilovolt transmissions lines to the B.C. coast; an upgraded transmission line to Kitimat
Electrification	18,000 gigawatt hours of new renewable resources – off- and onshore, wind, geothermal, hydro
Carbon Capture and Storage	Remove C02 from natural gas and store in sedimentary rock, where natural gas originates
Nature Based Projects	Ecosystem rehabilitation in Northeast, Central and Coastal B.C. to absorb carbon from atmosphere and restore First Nations territories – reduction of up to 20 Mt of carbon/yr by 2030
Methane	Further reduction of fugitive methane above the new regulated target of 45 per cent
Net GHG emissions within BC	Reduction of 13 to 17 million tonnes per annum by 2030 Nature-based projects of 20 Mt minus LNG emissions seven to three Mt = 13 to 17-Mt reduction
Net GHG emissions Globally if LNG displaces thermal coal	160 to 225 Mt of GHG reduction per year (includes LNG Canada Phase 1)
Private Sector Investment	LNG and natural gas infrastructure greater than $100 billion
Public Sector Investment	$3 billion in transmission lines, $1 billion in restoration and nature-based projects   Potential Funding Source – Provincial and Federal Taxes including Carbon Tax ($150 to $350 m/yr)

For more information, visit fncionline.com.

SOURCE First Nations Climate Initiative

Joyce Wagenaar, Coast Communications and Public Affairs, 604.817.5539, [email protected]