How Carbon Risk Management is Challenging Corporate Governance of Alberta’s Major Oil Producers during the first stages of Canada’s Energy Transition (2015-2020)

Tyler, Mary-EllenMarino Echegaray, Arturo2022-08-112022-08-112022-08-03Mariño Echegaray, A. (2022). How Carbon Risk Management is Challenging Corporate Governance of Alberta’s Major Oil Producers during the first stages of Canada’s Energy Transition (2015-2020) (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.http://hdl.handle.net/1880/114940https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/39986My dissertation consists of three connected studies that collaboratively investigate whether carbon-related institutional pressures were generating corporate governance dynamics, how the composition and characteristics of the board of directors were evolving due to carbon risk constrains, and how carbon risk management was influenced by its diverse conceptualization among six case studies of major oil producers of Alberta: Suncor Energy Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd., Cenovus Energy Inc., Husky Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., and MEG Energy Corp. These companies together concentrate more than 80% of total oil production of the province. This research sheds light on how boards’ carbon awareness, decision making, and responsibilities have been evolving in accordance with increased board members’ acknowledgement of carbon and other environmental constraints during Alberta’s early years of energy transition into clean energy technologies (from 2015 until 2020). This research is qualitative and predominantly descriptive-comparative and uses primary archival data sources such as management circulars/proxy statements, annual reports and financial statements, sustainability reports, and reports to the Carbon Disclosure Project, all of them provided by major oil producers of Alberta. Specialized secondary data sources were also used to provide theoretical frameworks to aid with data interpretation. Databases, such as Capital IQ S&P were used to gather shareholder holdings for each company. Thereby, on the basis of the comprehensive analysis of primary documents of oil companies, complemented with secondary sources, verification and inductive-deductive methodology were used to collect, assess, process, consolidate and analyze variations during the period of study. The findings captured stockholders’ variations, adaptation on board’s composition (knowledge, skills, and functional experience) and trends on characteristics (independence, interlocks, gender, diversity, tenure, and age of board members) as well as evolution of enterprise risk management systems according to conceptualization of carbon risk in the studied companies. Based on the results of this research it appears that corporate governance with increased carbon risk awareness and longer-term environmental perspectives can assist companies of Alberta’s oil industry to enhance effective energy transition processes.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Carbon Risk ManagementCanada's Energy TransitionCorporate Governance ManagementSustainable Energy DevelopmentEnvironmental, Social and Governance (ESG) PerformanceCarbon Awareness & Carbon RiskCarbon Institutional PressuresEducation--BusinessBusiness Administration--ManagementCanadian StudiesEnvironmental SciencesEngineering--EnvironmentalHow Carbon Risk Management is Challenging Corporate Governance of Alberta’s Major Oil Producers during the first stages of Canada’s Energy Transition (2015-2020)doctoral thesis