Oil company donates $10M to College of the North Atlantic's climate change programs

The oil company Hebron has donated $10 million to the College of the North Atlantic to go toward its climate change and sustainability programs.

On Wednesday, representatives from the college, the Hebron oil project and its largest stakeholder ExxonMobil held a conference in St. John's to announce the donation, which will be meted out over the span of five years.

Kerry Moreland, president of ExxonMobil Canada, says Hebron wants to empower youth and invest in education.

"[The money] allows our students, our faculty to push beyond what they thought was even possible; to really think of creative solutions to tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow," she said.

The sustainability and climate change programs include training for wind turbine and hydrogen technicians. Both certifications launched last September. Next year, the college will offer training for solar photovoltaic installation.

"It's an emotional moment because it takes you back to your college days," Moreland said. "Somebody had invested in me at the time and I want to invest back."

The donation is the biggest the college has ever received, says CNA president Elizabeth Kidd. She says the school will use the money to add more programs in sustainable development and research.

An oil and gas company investing in green energy education

The Hebron project is in charge of extracting offshore oil near the coast of Newfoundland, and ExxonMobil is one of the largest oil producers in the world. However, Moreland says there isn't a conflict between their work and the investment in green energy education.

"At the end of the day, what we are investing in is an education," she said. "We're investing in our students. We're empowering our students; [supporting] them to think of creative solutions."

Garry Thompson, dean of the school of sustainable development at CNA, says in order for Newfoundland and Labrador to transition to a greener economy there will be a need to fill up many jobs in the sector.

WATCH | Why an oil company is donating $10M to climate change college programs:

College of North Atlantic gets biggest donation ever for climate change programs

2 months ago

Duration 2:09

The president of ExxonMobil says she made the $10-million donation to empower the next generations and “tackle the challenges” to come. The CEO of the College of the North Atlantic says the money will be invested into programs that focus on sustainable development.

"Europe is moving towards clean and green energy, and it's something that our province can be at the forefront [of]," Thompson said.

"The biggest risk we now face is we need the people that are trained to do it and work in those programs. Over the next five to 10 years, we're going to need thousands if not tens of thousands of new workers."

The first cohort of the wind turbine technician program graduated last spring. Thompson says many students are already working in their field.

"The jobs are there," he said.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.