Friends of Science Society calls for Canada to reverse net-zero policies

The organization’s latest position paper contends that the federal Sustainable Finance Taxonomy relies on the 2018 IPCC SR 1.5 report, which it labels as obsolete. According to the group, three foundational climate catastrophe scenarios have collapsed over the past year: the implausibility of the RCP 8.5 model, the retraction of the Kotz et al. (2024) climate risk damage function, and the debunking of the 2004 "Wedges" decarbonization theory. These developments, the society argues, invalidate the rationale behind strict climate risk reporting requirements like B-15.

Physicist William van Wijngaarden and energy economist Robert Lyman support this critique, noting that aggressive decarbonization threatens national energy security. Lyman points out that Alberta’s oil and gas sector remains a massive economic engine, contributing $88 billion to the provincial GDP and supporting 200,000 jobs in 2024. The society suggests that instead of pursuing costly Carbon Capture and Storage projects, which rely heavily on taxpayer funding, the government should prioritize reinvestment in traditional energy sectors. They view current "abatement" requirements as a barrier to growth and argue that the focus should shift away from climate-risk compliance toward revitalizing Canada’s status as an energy superpower.