The major oil companies operating in Canada plan to increase their production by almost 30% by 2030 and have no detailed plans to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is the finding of a damning report unveiled Wednesday on the sidelines of the climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
The report prepared by Environmental Defense Canada and Oil Change International also argues that this increase in production will result in a 25% increase in GHGs in the country’s oil industry.
The document entitled Canada’s Big Oil Reality Check: Assessing the Climate Plans of Canadian Oil and Gas Producers assesses the commitments of eight oil companies operating in Canada: Cenovus, Suncor, Canadian Natural Resources, Tourmaline Oil, ExxonMobile, ARC Resources, Shell Canada and Ovintiv.
“In the end, no oil and gas company operating in Canada has developed a climate change plan that offers the bare minimum to deal with this climate emergency,” the report concludes.
An analysis grid with 10 criteria was used to evaluate the eight oil companies and none of them passed the test, say the groups Environmental Defense Canada and Oil Change International. For example, they point out, none of these companies plan to cut production by 2030 and none have a plan to meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.
In a speech at COP26 on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will impose a fixed cap on GHG emissions in the energy sector, which is roughly a quarter of all GHG production in the country. .
This commitment was made during the last federal election campaign. It plans to limit emissions to their current level, then slowly lower the cap every five years until reaching neutral production in 2050.
More details to come.
TOwith The Canadian Press