Municipal leaders, business executives, and academic delegations are set to meet in Calgary over the next week for the World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP) Annual General Meeting.
That AGM began on Sept. 2, with a focus on connecting the top energy producing cities in the world.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who has been serving as the Vice President of WECP, said that the AGM was an opportunity to exchange ideas, create partnerships, and accelerate solutions for a low-carbon future.
“Let me be clear, innovation doesn’t happen by ignoring our foundations. It happens when we chase every possibility, and in this case, every avenue of energy, from conventional oil and gas to LNG to hydrogen, nuclear and all forms of renewables. Each one of these pieces plays an essential role,” she said.
“Calgary’s leadership is built on the strength of all of these systems working together, and I will continue to champion every form of energy that drives our economy and secures our future. It’s plain to see that there’s no better place for these conversations than right here in Canada’s energy capital.”
Mayor Gondek said that municipal governments have not traditionally been engaged with the energy sector, and it was something that she wanted to work on during her tenure as mayor and as VP for WECP.
“I wanted to turn around when I became mayor, so I held a round table conversation with them early on, when we created our climate declaration, we did it in partnership with leaders in the energy sector. This council has been very vocal with administration about the need to ensure that we understand how the sector is doing and build strong relationships. So I think that work continues,” she said.
“We are probably the only landlocked city [in the WECP], and so I think understanding what we face and also explaining what we have done around emissions reduction and other transition moves when it comes to innovation is going to be incredibly important to my other mayoral colleagues.”
Opportunity to showcase Calgary to world leaders
Calgary Economic Development CEO Brad Parry said that the city has become home to 70 energy company headquarters, and with the highest concentration of energy talent in Canada, and a recognized clean-tech hub for innovation.
He said having the AGM in Calgary serves a few important purposes for Calgary’s energy economy.
“We always have a saying: ‘once we get them here, we win.’ I think the fact that we can bring some of these energy cities that are leading in the global race to decarbonization, having them here, talking to the academics, talking to the business community, engaging those conversations, to build those long-term partnerships, to us that’s absolutely key for the long-term success of our city,” he said.
“Absolutely any exposure we can get for our industry to showcase all the amazing work that’s being done is always a benefit for us, and one of our key mandates is to attract capital into our city and look for those kinds of investments that will create jobs for long-term economic success.”
Mayor Gondek said that the schedule for the next several days of the AGM was a busy one, with the AGM business itself, along with meetings and showcases for delegates.
“We have a keynote speaker who’s coming to talk about Canadian examples in the energy sector, which is a great chance for us to profile what we’ve been doing. There is a session that’s dedicated to Indigenous reconciliation, something that is top of mind for a few of our cities, and it’s something that a lot of cities haven’t considered. So, that’s certainly something that we are going to be raising awareness on,” she said.
“We will be looking at innovation. We’ll be looking at examples of what each other has done, where it’s worked, where it hasn’t, and really being able to learn from each other.”
One of the areas where lessons learnt have led to changes for the WECP was the successful integration of academics into meetings during last year’s AGM in Stavanger, Norway.
Parry said that members of the Energy Transition Centre, along with post-secondary institutions, like the University of Calgary, along with Platform Calgary, would be involved in the second of two tracks for the conference for non-municipal delegations.
“It’s an opportunity for us to really showcase what’s truly going on in this city that sometimes doesn’t get a lot of headlines,” he said.
He said that post-secondaries have been doing a great job on their own connecting academics, but that there was an interest from CED to bring a business angle and commercialization opportunities to the forefront.
For more details on the WECP, see energycities.org.
