Canada halfway to Copenhagen emission target

“The combined efforts to date of federal, provincial and territorial governments, of consumers and of businesses will generate half the GHG reduction required to meet Canada’s GHG target by 2020,” said Canada’s Environment Minister, the Honourable Peter Kent. “This is progress but more work is required, and the Harper government is continuing to implement its sector-by-sector regulatory approach to achieve the additional reductions needed for Canada to meet its target.”

So far, the Government of Canada has developed and implemented stringent regulations to reduce GHG emissions in the electricity and transportation sectors. Just last week, proposed regulations were announced for automobiles and light trucks, model years 2017 and beyond, that aim to cut emissions and fuel consumption by 50 per cent. The federal government is also working on regulations for the oil and gas sector.

The projection is contained in CanadaÂ’s Emissions Trends Report 2012, which was released in August. The report also notes progress in de-linking economic growth and GHG emissions. Between 2005 and 2010, the economy grew by 6.3 per cent whereas Canadian GHG emissions decreased by 6.5 per cent.