Letter to stakeholders

Article

Letter to stakeholders

With global energy security concerns rising, we recognize the importance of Imperial’s role in responsibly developing and providing affordable, reliable and lower-carbon energy solutions for today and for the future. Events of the last year and the ongoing pandemic have brought to the forefront the significance of resilience through periods of heightened uncertainty.

We also know that the challenges we are facing today are bigger than any one company, one industry or one government can overcome on its own. Meaningful collaboration with industry peers, governments, Indigenous communities and other stakeholders is absolutely essential. That’s why we’re pooling together our resources to support Canada’s ambitions to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

It’s why we became a founding member in the Oil Sands Pathways to Net Zero Alliance, an unprecedented partnership of Canadian oil sands companies that make up over 95 per cent of the country’s oil sands production. It’s also why we’re drawing on the ingenuity of technology leaders across the country, partnering together to accelerate the development and deployment of game changing technologies.

In 2021, we made substantial progress toward advancing lower-carbon solutions. We announced our intention to invest in a world-class renewable diesel manufacturing facility at our Strathcona refinery in Edmonton, Alberta. This will provide Canada with a large new domestic source of renewable fuel to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the commercial transportation sector by three million tonnes per year.(1)

We also recently entered into an innovative collaboration with E3 Lithium that will explore the redevelopment of the Leduc oil field into a potential leading source of battery-grade lithium to help meet growing global demand.

Supporting our upstream efforts, we announced a new greenhouse gas intensity reduction target for our operated oil sands of 30 per cent by 2030 versus 2016 levels.(2) Our recently published Advancing Climate Solutions report provides a detailed overview of our climate strategy, progress and GHG emissions reduction pathways.

Along the way, our focus on people has not wavered. Through 2021, the pandemic continued to present challenges in managing the health and safety of our workforce and our communities. The robust processes we put in place allowed us to effectively respond to the changing conditions and ensured the continued well-being of our workforce while maintaining reliable operations. Safety is a core value at Imperial and is integral to who we are and what we do.

That commitment extended to our communities and key stakeholders, in particular Indigenous Peoples. In 2021, we focused on further embedding traditional knowledge in our environmental management processes, achieving record spend with Indigenous businesses, and forming a dedicated work team to continue to increase the recruitment and retention of Indigenous employees at Imperial. Our efforts in our upstream business were recognized with the award of a silver level certification in Progressive Aboriginal Relations from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

As we move forward, we intend to build on our strong momentum of the last year, harnessing the ingenuity, leadership and collaboration of our workforce, partners and communities to not only generate value for our shareholders but also meaningfully contribute to Canada’s energy future.

Thank you for your interest in our environmental, social and governance progress and performance outlined in this year’s sustainability report.

Brad Corson
Chairman, President and CEO

 

FOOTNOTES

(1) This project is expected to realize about 3 million tonnes per year in emissions reductions in the Canadian transportation sector compared to petroleum-based diesel. Internal calculation based on 2020 draft Canadian Fuel Regulations: Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 154, Number 51: Clean Fuel Regulations.
(2) GHG emissions intensity (scope 1 and 2) from Imperial’s operated oil sands. Compared with 2016 operated oil sands GHGi. Government, legal or regulatory changes could directly or indirectly delay or otherwise impact GHG emissions intensity reduction measures.