Martha Hall Findlay
Credit where credit is due: We all wish that the world could instantly transform itself to become oil-free. But it can’t. And so our only hope is for a quick, just and painless transition. And oil companies who work to address climate change – and in the interim, move to produce net-zero oil. At present, 10% of Canada’s GHG emissions stem from just extracting oil – which is why Canada’s oil sands have long had the reputation for being some of the dirtiest oil on the planet. Suncor, and Martha, are working to change that.
As an internal champion for harnessing clean tech and innovation to solve emissions challenges, Martha has played a key role and amongst her other accomplishments is the creation of an unprecedented alliance among Suncor, CNRL, Cenovus, Imperial and MEG Energy (representing about 90% of Canadian oil sands production) to drive the “Oil Sands Pathways to Net Zero by 2050” initiative, announced in June 2021.
As Suncor makes its own transition, she was also one of the drivers that led to the Suncor/ATCO partnership for a global scale (300,000 tonnes/year) clean hydrogen project in Alberta. In addition, Suncor has announced partnerships and investments in other clean hydrogen projects, carbon capture usage and storage (Svante) initiatives and biofuel technology development (Lanzatech, Lanzajet and Enerkem).
