Canada’s emissions increased 3.3 per cent from 2016 to 2019,according to a report released on June 1st by veteran earth scientist David Hughes from the Corporate Mapping Project.

The report found that Canada and the U.S. are the only G7 countries that have not reduced emissions since signing the 2016 Paris Accord. The U.S. has experienced a 0.6 per cent emissions growth over the same period; while the other five G7 countries have reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 4.4 to 10.8 per cent.

Canada’s plans to increase oil and gas exports will cause the country to fail to meet its Paris Agreement target of a 40 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and the net-zero target by 2050, as introduced in Bill C-12, according to the report.

“Clearly the [Canada Energy Regulator’s] forecast is incompatible with meeting Canada’s emissions reduction targets. Yet Canada is using taxpayer funds to build the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (TMX) to facilitate additional oil and gas production growth,” says Hughes in the report, which was co-published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and other environmental groups. “This is completely at odds with its emissions reduction commitments.”

The G7 nations are scheduled to meet in Glasgow in November 2021 to revisit the commitments made in the Paris Agreement.

Canada has never achieved any of its emissions targets. Under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, Canada committed to reducing its GHG emissions to 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020. Canada’s emissions will be 3 to 5 percent below 2005 levels in 2020. Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Canada committed to reducing its GHG emissions to 6 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. Canada withdrew from the protocol in 2011, and the country’s emissions in 2012 were approximately 18 per cent higher than in 1990.

Bill C-12, which is currently being reviewed by the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, aims to set targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 by setting interim targets. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Annamie Paul have both criticized the bill for not setting targets until 2030.

“Unlike other countries, Bill C-12’s first ‘milestone year’ for accountability is set almost 10 years in the future, instead of five,” said Paul in a statement on June 1st. The Green Party has requested amendments to bill to include: 2025 as a milestone year, targets “based on thebest available science,” and the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperatures limit at 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. All amendments have been rejected so far.

Hughes’ report on Canada’s energy sector isn’t the only environmental report that’s been published in the past weeks. The Arctic is heating up three times faster than the world, according to a new report by Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), a working group of the Arctic Council. These findings echoed the Government of Canada’s 2019 report that Canada is heating up two times faster than the rest of the world, and Canada’s North is heating up three times faster.

This rapid global heating paints a stark picture for the future of the planet if action isn’t taken now. “Glaciers and ice sheets have a massive effect on climate change, and if we lose them, climate on earth will be nothing like it is right now,” says Lauritz Schönfeld, a geologist and glaciologist, who’s worked in the polar regions since 2013.

“All species are adapting or have been adapting over a long period of time and over constant changes. But those changes have usually been gradual,” he added. “And if they haven't been gradual, they have been catastrophic. They usually lead to mass extinctions, like with the dinosaurs.”

The environmental committee reviews Bill C-12 again on June 7th.

Sources:

1.     Canada’s Energy Sector Report, June 2021.

2.      J. David Hughes: Canada’s carbon conundrum and the difficult path forward.

3.     Legislative Summary of Bill C-12: An Act respecting transparency and accountability in Canada’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.

4.     Backroom deal by Liberals and NDP on Bill C-12 impedes delivery of climate legislation that meets scientific criteria and offers credible accountability

5.     Canada’s Changing Climate Report2019.

6.     Arctic Climate Change Update 2021: Key Trends and Impacts. Summary for Policy-makers.

7.     Lauritz Schönfeld, geologist & glaciologist