In recent weeks, Carney has also signed<\/a> a deal to produce an extra million barrels of crude oil a day after pledging<\/a> to double Canada\u2019s liquefied natural gas production for new markets in Asia.<\/p>\n Former environment minister Steven Guilbeault quit Carney\u2019s cabinet in protest, while two founding members of the federal government\u2019s Net Zero Advisory Body also resigned.<\/p>\n \u201cI could not compromise anymore and I fear we are heading in the wrong direction,\u201d Guilbeault told the Financial Times.<\/p>\n Climate experts and figures from business and finance say Carney\u2019s decisions show how far national sovereignty and short-term energy concerns in the Trump era now outweigh action on global warming.<\/p>\n Paul Polman, the former Unilever chief executive who champions responsible capitalism, said it was \u201cnot surprising\u201d that Carney<\/a> would make a \u201cbalanced pivot\u201d as part of a political-economic compromise. But the \u201cgreen industrialism\u201d strategy to stabilise domestic politics and the economy<\/a> came at the expense of delaying the deeper structural change needed.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a climate-science standpoint, this risks undermining the urgency of emissions reduction,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cBetting heavily on unproven massive-scale CCS [carbon capture and storage] and a cleaner-oil narrative while accelerating production\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009seems like a gamble with global emissions targets, and with the credibility of net zero by 2050. Gambling with firm science does not seem smart to me.\u201d<\/p>\n The fossil fuels shift marks a stark contrast from September 2015, when Carney, as governor of the Bank of England, warned in a landmark speech that \u201cclimate change is the tragedy of the horizon\u201d. <\/p>\n He then urged governments and regulatory bodies to facilitate the transition to renewable energy to prevent \u201ccatastrophic\u201d consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce climate change becomes a defining issue for financial stability, it may already be too late,\u201d he told the City of London gathering.<\/p>\n Ben Caldecott, founding director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, who helped author the UK Prudential Regulation Authority\u2019s first climate change report at the time of Carney\u2019s speech, said the address was critical in changing the agenda in the UK and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact a central bank governor and chair of the FSB [Financial Stability Board] was talking about climate change<\/a> brought it into the realm of being a serious credible thing\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009suddenly it had more credence with finance ministries.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bank of England could have just said: \u2018we\u2019ve checked that the vaults are safe from flooding and we\u2019ve cut down on printing,\u2019\u201d he added.<\/p>\n However, the central bank\u2019s emphasis on climate-related financial disclosure and climate stress tests under Carney had a limited impact. \u201cIt took us down some tracks that were never going to be enough and were clearly disappointing,\u201d Caldecott said.<\/p>\n By 2021, ahead of the UN climate summit in Glasgow hosted by the UK, Carney was overseeing billions in renewable investments at Brookfield Asset Management as its head of environmental, social and governance and impact fund investing.<\/p>\n He spearheaded the so-called Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (Gfanz), aimed at removing barriers to clean energy investments and promoting science-based climate commitments, launching a lofty goal for $130tn in investment from the financial sector by 2050.<\/p>\n The fate of Carney\u2019s finance alliance was sealed under Trump, with the rollback of more than 70 US government climate measures. A group of Republican attorneys-general heralded the pushback with legal action claiming such alliances distort competition.<\/p>\n One by one, most of the financial sector subgroups involved suspended operations, as Trump denounced green energy. One of the most prominent backers of the finance initiative, BlackRock\u2019s CEO Larry Fink, fell into step with the political shift and now promotes \u201cenergy pragmatism\u201d. <\/p>\n Carney was not alone in making the pivot in the Trump era, as many of the world\u2019s largest banks continued to extend fossil fuel-related financing.<\/p>\n Jeanne Martin, co-director of corporate engagement and head of banking programmes at ShareAction, said the campaign group\u2019s past criticism of Gfanz members for falling short in delivering on their climate promises had \u201ccaused quite a bit of stir, which led to a call with Carney\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe we should have another version of that call [with Carney] where we\u2019re the ones doing the telling off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s shift is seen as especially striking given how seriously he and his family had taken climate change. His wife, Diana Fox Carney, is an economist and respected climate policy expert who hosted the podcast Carbon Hunters, and wrote about how voters could be persuaded to back carbon pricing.<\/p>\n Catherine Abreu, who recently quit Canada\u2019s net zero advisory body over Carney\u2019s policies, said there was a \u201chope as PM he would be able to pull Canada\u2019s economy into the future\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe disappointment has been that he just wants to use the same playbook that we\u2019ve seen previous Canadian governments use, which is to double down on natural resources that [are] already on their way out.\u201d<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s memorandum of understanding with oil-rich Alberta, as part of a \u201cgrand bargain\u201d<\/a>, lays the groundwork for a new crude pipeline to the west coast, at a time when Canada produces a record 4mn barrels a day.<\/p>\n Canada holds the world\u2019s third-largest oil reserves but produces \u201cthe most carbon intensive crudes in North America\u201d, according to the Pembina Institute, because Alberta\u2019s oil sands extraction process emits more carbon than conventional drilling.<\/p>\n Lisa Baiton, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, applauded the regulatory rollbacks as \u201csignificant steps towards unlocking Canada\u2019s vast natural energy resources and putting us on a path to become the world\u2019s next energy superpower<\/a>\u201d. <\/p>\n While Carney\u2019s pact with Alberta includes a plan to secure industrial carbon pricing before April 1, it delays the province\u2019s methane reduction target to 2035. Control of methane, the main component of gas, is regarded as the most effective measure in the short term in tackling global warming.<\/p>\n The plan also suspends clean electricity regulations, cuts a proposed oil and gas emissions cap, and was signed without consulting coastal First Nations, which oppose any new pipeline project.<\/p>\n All this comes as Carney\u2019s government is off track to meet its 2030 emissions targets, Canada\u2019s environment commissioner found<\/a>. Carney said in his November budget that the country\u2019s \u201cnet zero\u201d plans were focused on 2050.<\/p>\n \u201cThe prime minister has always been and remains a leader in driving stronger climate action,\u201d said a spokesperson. \u201cNext year, the government will build on its ambitious work to reduce emissions and build a stronger, more sustainable economy.\u201d <\/p>\n Keean Nembhard, a spokesperson for Canada\u2019s environment minister Julie Dabrusin, said \u201cfighting climate change, protecting communities and building Canada\u201d were \u201ctop priorities\u201d for Carney\u2019s government. Nembhard cited Canada\u2019s industrial carbon pricing system, clean electricity and methane-reduction regulations, and tax credits for clean energy as examples of Ottawa\u2019s strategy to cut emissions. <\/p>\n As part of trade negotiations with Washington, Carney is open to reviving the Keystone XL pipeline linking Alberta to Nebraska \u2014 cancelled by former US president Joe Biden on environmental grounds \u2014 to aid US energy security.<\/p>\n Carney, who says he wants to produce \u201cdecarbonised<\/a> oil\u201d, is also turning to the Pathways Alliance, a C$16.5bn (US$12bn) industry-proposed carbon capture and storage mega-project, to counter emissions from higher crude production.<\/p>\n Mark Campanale, director of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, which framed many of the risks expounded by Carney in 2015, said scaling up renewable projects to deliver free daytime electricity \u2014 using the Australian<\/a> example \u2014 would be a better government strategy than encouraging the expansion of oil and gas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing governments like Canada, which are investing money in projects that might never be profitable, that go counter to their own climate objectives, and that\u2019s really concerning,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n As a minority-government leader, he added, \u201cmaybe Carney has a cunning plan\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009but right now there is a sense of bewilderment in climate circles\u201d.<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s effort on climate action, which was a foundation of his career of the past 10 years, now risks being erased within a year of his election to lead a G7 government confronting economic challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether Carney has been a net positive for climate work in the last decade is a mixed bag, especially more recently,\u201d Caldecott said. \u201cThere\u2019s a sense that, because of things he\u2019s done in Canada, maybe there\u2019s a lack of authenticity \u2014 he said one thing at one time, and has completely pivoted.\u201d<\/p>\n Climate Capital Where climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore the FT\u2019s coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Prime](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/606afbee-f9b5-4df7-ba88-98537b88e02b.jpg\")
The fate of Mark Carney\u2019s finance alliance was sealed after US President Donald Trump rolled back more than 70 US government climate measures \u00a9 AP<\/p>\n![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/2248749b-7c47-4664-9182-6be90899c2ef.jpg\")
Mark Carney\u2019s wife, Diana Fox Carney, hosted the podcast \u2018Carbon Hunters\u2019 \u00a9 Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/384cfd92-a50b-4bce-9d00-ffdbff93b8ec.jpg\")
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