To Prospective Investors in TC Energy:
We are writing with respect to Coastal GasLink (CGL) seeking a jumbo high-grade bond, and the significant economic and reputational risks that accompany further financing of this highly controversial pipeline project. We encourage you to cease investing in new bonds issued by TC Energy Corp that operate CGL pipeline, or any of its related subsidiaries.
As reported recently in Bloomberg, Coastal GasLink LP is talking to investors about a large bond sale of CAD$3-4 billion. The deal may take place in early June and is part of TC Energy’s C$9 billion fixed-income financing plan with ‘multiple tranches, including an amortizing bond.’
Coastal GasLink Phase Two: no permits
We are aware that CGL is pursuing Phase 2 of the project alongside LNG Canada, seeking to build additional compressor stations as part of a plan to increase capacity of the pipeline.
This includes the Titanium Peak Compressor Station in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako, one of two stations in unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, approximately 85 km southwest of Houston, BC. This station would be near the Unist’ot’en healing centre bordering Gidimt’en territory and on Liksamysu territory. Wet’suwet’en members are deeply concerned about the proximity to important cultural sites and the prospect of noise pollution and chemical pollution that risk disrupting these important spaces. The proposed footprint of one compressor station is approximately 20 hectares of crown land, which is equivalent to 17 soccer fields. The Wet’suwet’en are also concerned about the additional years of construction traffic, and risks to vulnerable Indigenous women and children living near the proposed sites.
CGL does not have the permits for these compressor stations. Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs oppose and do not give consent to build these compressor stations and will pursue avenues to challenge these permits and construction.
Hereditary leaders do not consent
CGL pipeline cuts through Wet’suwet’en territory, which is divided into 5 clans and 13 house groups, and stretches over 22,000 square kilometres, wherein each clan has full jurisdiction to control access to its territory. We maintain our land use, occupancy, hereditary governance system, and are the title holders with the authority and jurisdiction to make decisions about unceded lands.
With respect to the law, we continue to assert our right to jurisdiction over our lands, to determine access and prevent trespass under ‘Anic ‘niwh’it’én (Wet’suwet’en law), and to Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). The Coastal GasLink project is in violation of UNDRIP, which is recognized at both the provincial and federal levels in Canada.
Our rights and our struggle against this project have been recognized worldwide, including by the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commission. They were recently affirmed in a report by Amnesty International that outlined a years-long campaign of violence, harassment, discrimination, and dispossession against Indigenous Wet’suwet’en land defenders. The report examines the human rights violations inflicted upon members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and their supporters by the authorities of Canada and British Columbia; CGL Pipeline Ltd. and TC Energy, the corporations building the pipeline; and Forsythe Security, a private security firm contracted by CGL Pipeline Ltd. CGL and Forsythe, along with the RCMP, are being sued for conspiracy, intimidation, private and public nuisance, intentional infliction of mental distress, and invasion of privacy in the BC Supreme Court. Investing in CGL makes you and your company complicit in these violations, risking further reputational harm.
Economic risks: Coastal GasLink ballooning costs
There are considerable economic risks associated with CGL. Originally estimated at $6.6 billion, the pipeline’s construction expenses have spiralled to a staggering $14.5 billion. At a time where renewable energy is becoming more competitive and cost effective than fossil fuels, financial institutions should exercise caution and avoid investing in a project with such a precarious financial outlook. The dramatic cost escalation of CGL also exposes severe financial uncertainties, and is exacerbated by the ongoing environmental penalties and disputes that the CGL has been involved in.
COP28 signalled unambiguously that the era of fossil fuels must end. With increased climate action and increasing viability of renewable energy, there is an immediate risk that the CGL pipeline and LNG Canada, the export project which Phase two is supplying, will become stranded assets. With mounting debt, and an uncertain future, investors might find themselves out of pocket if the company is unable to pay its obligations to its investors.
As major economies commit to their carbon emissions targets and green energy goals ahead of 2050, many are seeing LNG as unviable. For example, the European Investment Bank and the Swedish Pensions Agency have deemed LNG investments as high-risk and economically unsound due to climate change concerns and potential for stranded assets.
For all of these reasons, we are asking you to publicly announce a commitment to deny new debt ahead of TC Energy’s bond issuance this June, and fully divest from CGL.
Signed,
Dinï ze’ Na’Moks, John Ridsdale
T’sayu Clan, Wet’suwet’en
Dinï ze’ Woos, Frank Alec
Cas Yikh
Gitimt’en Clan, Wet’suwet’en
Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat, Freda Huson
for Dinï ze’ Knedebeas, Warner William
Cilhtsekyu Clan, Wet’suwet’en
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