Ottawa has decided. Two days after the publication of an IPCC report which advocates a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, the federal government has finally given the green light to the Bay du Nord oil project, off the coast of Newfoundland. A decision strongly criticized by opposition parties and environmental groups.
Updated yesterday at 11:24 p.m.
It was the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, who confirmed the news at the end of the day on Wednesday. “The Bay du Nord development can proceed, subject to some of the most stringent environmental conditions ever imposed, [dont] the historic requirement for an oil and gas project to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,” he said.
According to Ottawa, the oil extracted off the coast of Newfoundland will also be 10 times less polluting than that extracted from the oil sands.
An argument that does not at all convince Caroline Brouillette, director of climate policies at the Action-Climate Network. She points out that 85% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions occur when oil is burned.
like oil [du projet Bay du Nord] is intended for export, it will not be taken into account in Canadian programs. But there is only one atmosphere where these GHGs go, and it doesn’t care about borders.
Caroline Brouillette, Director of Climate Policy at the Action-Climat Network
Recall that the Bay du Nord project plans to extract at least 300 million barrels of oil 500 km from the coast of Newfoundland starting in 2028. The life of the Norwegian company Equinor’s project would be 30 years.
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador could also receive up to $3.5 billion in royalties. According to Pierre-Olivier Pineau, holder of the Chair in Energy Sector Management at HEC Montréal, several tensions led the federal government to accept the project. “Newfoundland’s economy[-et-Labrador] is also in very bad shape, so it’s very difficult to say no to such a project,” he says.
Guilbeault defends himself
In interview with The PressMinister Steven Guilbeault justified his decision by stating that even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that there would still be oil production in the future.
Yes, production must decrease, but it will remain [une production quotidienne] of 36 million barrels of oil in 2030. Canada will be able to meet demand in the most responsible way possible.
Steven Guilbeault, Federal Minister of the Environment, in an interview with The Press
Steven Guilbeault did not hide, however, that this decision “was probably the most difficult” he had to make to date. “I can certainly understand the disappointment of many people. According to him, his hands were tied by the recommendation of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to approve the project. “If the opinion had been unfavorable, the conversation would have been completely different”, he specifies.
According to Pierre-Olivier Pineau, it is obvious that government policies do not make it possible to bring down oil consumption. “If we don’t have one, it’s also because there isn’t a great social acceptability of government policies that would allow us to get out of our dependence on oil,” he explains.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) recommends that the nations of the world no longer approve new oil and gas projects in order to limit global warming and achieve carbon neutrality objectives by 2050.
“A moral and economic madness”
“Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday as he commented on the latest IPCC report.
PHOTO ROBERT BUMSTED, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations
“It’s not a good idea, ecologically and morally, but the decision is entirely political,” says Gabriela Sabau, professor of environment and sustainable development at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador. . “Of course, this goes against the conclusions of the IPCC and makes it more difficult to fulfill the promises of the Paris agreement. More and more politicians insist that the energy transition will not happen overnight and that investments for the development of renewable energy infrastructure will be financially supported by oil and gas revenues, says Mr.me Sabau. “I think they’re right,” she blurts out.
Several environmental groups have criticized Ottawa’s decision very harshly. “This is just a project that will add fuel to the fire of the climate crisis,” exclaimed Patrick Bonin, head of the Climate-Energy campaign at Greenpeace Canada.
“Producing oil that is said to be green or clean is a figment of the imagination: it simply does not exist. Oil is oil: there will be impacts, no matter how it is produced and no matter how it is burned,” reacted Émile Boisseau-Bouvier, climate policy analyst at Équiterre.
The announcement was also strongly denounced by the Bloc Québécois and the NDP in Ottawa. “By deciding to go ahead with the Bay du Nord project, Canada confirms its position as a dunce in the fight against climate change,” criticized Monique Pauzé, the Bloc’s environment spokesperson. In a press release, the NDP accuses the Liberals of “continuing to distribute billions of dollars to oil and gas companies. It shows exactly what is wrong with this government. They’re listening to their oil and gas buddies instead of climate scientists – and it’s Canadians and our communities who will pay the price.”
The Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industry Association, Energy NL, was also pleased with the approval of the project. “Bay du Nord is a generational energy development that will bring significant economic benefits while being the lowest carbon intensity oil project in Canada,” said its president, James Parmiter, in a press release.
Guilbeault before the Natural Resources Committee
Minister Steven Guilbeault testified Wednesday before the Commons Committee on Natural Resources along with Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. The meeting focused on the federal plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions from the oil sector in Canada. Even if the decision concerning Bay du Nord had not yet been made public, the minister had to answer several questions from elected officials about the project. He also indicated that he would have “excellent news” to announce soon regarding Canada’s GHG emissions record.
Learn more
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- 954 billion tons
- Total greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels exported by Canada in 2019. In that year, GHG emissions in the country totaled 730 billion tonnes, down 224 billion tonnes.
SOURCE: ECOJUSTICE
- 8kg
- According to estimates by the promoter of the Bay du Nord project, 8 kg of CO2 will be emitted per barrel of oil produced. The production of one barrel of oil from the tar sands is equivalent to 80 kg of CO2.
SOURCE: ENVIRONMENT CANADA