Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are on track to increase by up to 12.3% between 2009 and 2020, from 700 to 786 megatonnes per year, and another 9.7% by 2030, to 870 Mt, according to a draft emission trends report obtained by CBC.
Against the country’s emission reduction targets of 622 Mt in 2020 and 524 by 2030, present trends are off the mark by as much as 26.4% for 2020 and 66% for 2030. (Calculations are based on the highest of three possible scenarios in the trend report.)
With federal, provincial and territorial environment ministers in Ottawa today for their first face-to-face meeting in a decade, “none of the provincial commitments will be enough to get us to get us where we need to be,” and “the federal government has a role to help close the gap,” Climate Action Network Executive Director Louise Comeau told CBC. “It’s going to be tough negotiations on money—what will the federal government put on table to entice provinces to do more than what they are currently planning to do?”
The figures in the CBC report were due to be updated later today, but sources told McDiarmid the revisions would be minor. The report projected emissions ranging from 747 to 786 Mt in 2020, and from 768 to 870 Mt in 2030, depending on economic growth and world oil prices.
