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| In this file photo taken on July 10, 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses a joint press conference with his Latvian counterpart following their meeting in Riga, Latvia. ILMARS ZNOTINS / AFP/Getty Images |
Canada’s record on addressing human-induced climate change over the past decade mirrors the global record of setting unrealistic goals for lowering industrial greenhouse gas emissions and then failing to meet them.
Under the emission reduction targets set by both the Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau governments, Canada’s emissions are supposed to be 17% below 2005 levels, or 606 megatonnes (Mt) annually, by the end of this year.
Current emissions are 716 Mt annually, based on the latest available federal data which are for 2017, meaning we’re 110 Mt, or 18.2%, above where we’re supposed to be in 2020.
Meeting this target would require shutting down the equivalent of our entire electricity sector (74 Mt annually), or our entire agricultural sector (72 Mt annually), or our entire heavy industry sector (73 Mt annually) within 12 months, and we would still come up short.
Not only is that impossible to do, Trudeau’s claim Canada is on track to achieve his 2030 target of cutting emissions to 30% below 2005 levels, or to 511 Mt annually, is absurd.
To do this, Canada — responsible for 1.6% of global emissions — would have to reduce our current emissions by 205 Mt annually, in 10 years.
That would require the equivalent of wiping out Canada’s entire oil and gas sector in a decade, which currently emits 195 Mts of greenhouse gases annually.
Source: Lorrie Goldstein | Toronto Sun
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