Canada is facing overlapping economic, social and climate pressures, from affordability challenges and infrastructure strain to the growing impacts of climate change. At the same time, these pressures create a critical opportunity to strengthen energy systems, grow resilient economies and accelerate the clean energy transition.
A new Pembina Institute report, Where Leaders Align: What we learned at the Pembina Summit Inner Circle, captures insights from the Pembina Summit Inner Circle, a closed-door gathering of senior leaders from British Columbia, Canada and Europe. Hosted in partnership with adelphi and The Clean Economy Bridge, the Summit brought together senior leaders from across the energy ecosystem, including industry, government, Indigenous communities, labour, finance, utilities, buildings and more — to identify near-term, investable steps to advance Canada's clean energy transition.
Why alignment matters now
B.C. has a strong track record of policy leadership that balances economic prosperity with climate leadership, from building code reforms to electric vehicle adoption and industrial carbon pricing. But positioning B.C. as a climate leader while sustaining long-term economic resilience and catalyzing change across the country requires coordinated action across interconnected sectors.
What leaders agreed on
Across facilitated discussions and activities, four core themes surfaced:
- Outdated regulations are constraining innovation
Policies designed with the intent to contribute to decarbonization, among other outcomes, now impede the systems that they are mean to support. - The time for siloed policymaking is over
Energy, climate, infrastructure and workforce decisions are deeply interconnected, and policy designed in isolation across sectors often fails or even harms progress. - Successful energy projects include Indigenous leadership, a skilled workforce and knowledge sharing
Durable projects embed Indigenous ownership, invest in workforce upskilling and draw on lessons from other jurisdictions facing similar challenges. - The story we tell will dictate our outcomes
Without public buy-in, even well-designed policies will fail — making storytelling a strategic tool in shaping whether policies are understood, trusted, defended and ultimately implemented.
Priority actions to move from dialogue to delivery
The report identifies four priority next steps:
- Drive policy decisions in a single, integrated direction
Bring energy, climate, infrastructure and workforce planning under one coherent, economy-wide plan - Reset the regulatory environment to enable, not constrain
Replace fragmented policies with an integrated approach that includes regulation, incentives and industrial strategy - Implement the non-negotiable building blocks of energy projects
Embed Indigenous leadership, advance workforce development and accelerate learning through national and international collaboration - Lead with a narrative that can build and sustain public support
Develop compelling narratives that communicate how clean energy delivers reliability, affordability, jobs and economic competitiveness; and ensure narratives are delivered by trusted messengers
What comes next
B.C. has the resources, the ambition, and the economic opportunity to lead Canada's clean energy transition. The missing piece is alignment across systems, institutions and narratives. By acting decisively now, the province can strengthen energy security, improve affordability, create high-quality careers and solidify Canada's position as a global clean energy superpower.
