Canada has entered into a formal partnership with the government of Germany to collaborate on energy policy to spur private sector engagement, investment and trade.
Both countries are part of a group of more than 120 countries which have stated a commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Seamus O’Regan Jr., Canada’s minister of natural resources, and Peter Altmaier, Germany’s minister of economic affairs and energy, made the announcement during the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue. They said the partnership sets Canada as a clean energy partner of choice for Germany, notably for hydrogen, critical minerals and liquefied natural gas.
“No democracy in the world has the wealth of natural resources that Canada does. New international energy relationships, like this one with Germany, will help us lower global emissions,” says O’Regan Jr.
Canada and Germany will establish a committee to foster the energy transformation through exchanges on policy, best practices and technologies as well as through cooperative activities and projects focused on:
- energy policy, planning and regulations;
- resilient electricity systems that can integrate high levels of renewables;
- energy efficiency;
- sector coupling and low-carbon fuels; and
- innovation and applied research.
“Germany and Canada are both committed to an ambitious energy transition and reaching climate neutrality by 2050,” says Altmaier, noting the two countries share similar goals, such as phasing out coal, ramping up hydrogen production and usage, implementing a national carbon price and speeding up energy efficiency over the coming years.
“An energy partnership between our two countries will help us to jointly find solutions for the challenges and to tap into the enormous economic opportunities. Especially with respect to hydrogen, I am confident that we will quickly see concrete bilateral cooperation projects, as Canada and Germany have very complementary goals and assets in this area,” he says.