This spring, the federal government is to propose its first version of regulations on capping and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the fossil fuel sector. The latter follows the Carbon Neutrality Accountability Act in force since June 2021 and is part of the 2030 emissions reduction plan. Its objective: to ensure that the industry finally meets a committed emissions cap. to become lower and lower as national GHG reduction targets are raised to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In other words: to ensure that this industry finally makes its fair contribution to the national reduction effort of our shows, something she’s been refusing for far too long.
Let’s be clear, capping these emissions is certainly only a first step, but it is a must. From inventory to inventory, oil and gas companies continue to break emissions records. Between 1990 and 2021, they increased their emissions by 88%. With 179 megatons of CO2 emitted in 2020, this sector accounted for 27% of Canadian emissions, making it the one that emits the most GHGs in the country. A recent study by Environment and Climate Change Canada also indicates that emissions from the oil sands could be 65% higher than reported by industry. At a bare minimum, oil and gas emission reductions should be reduced to 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030, in order to align with the targets the federal government has set for all sectors of the the Canadian economy.
Quite simply, while we are rightly being asked to make individual efforts, on the contrary, the oil and gas industries prefer to invest billions in disinformation campaigns, and they work systematically to delay the climate action. Moreover, last February, an InfluenceMap report revealed their hypocrisy: on the one hand, they deploy a host of campaigns and messages on their commitments to carbon neutrality and, on the other, they exert intensive pressure counter the climate policies that the federal government wants to implement. These tactics have a name: greenwashing.
However, these industries know that they have to make an effort, especially since they have the means to do so. According to the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, these sectors have benefited the most from inflation in the country in the past year, and the five largest companies in Canada have reaped profits totaling nearly $40 billion in 2022. And that’s not counting the plethora of public subsidies that oil and gas companies continue to receive from the Canadian government, averaging no less than $8.5 billion between 2019 and 2021.
Planetary Health
As physicians and environmental organizations, we are at the forefront of witnessing that the health of people and that of the planet are inextricably linked; this is why we work from a planetary health perspective. While the World Health Organization has qualified climate change as the greatest threat to humanity, Quebecers are seeing their impacts more and more frequently and even directly, with ice storms in winter. interspersed with then abnormally mild temperatures, spring flooding, increasingly intense heat waves in the summer, and more storms and erosion on Quebec’s coasts throughout the year.
Beyond growing environmental threats, we know that climate action can bring short-term benefits. Air quality can be improved relatively quickly by land use planning policies, which would, for example, offer less room for solo cars (whether gasoline or electric, since a significant amount of air pollution comes from the use of tires and abrasive dust), but which would increase the contribution of public and active transportation in all Quebec cities. This directly improves people’s health, and helps to reduce the already huge costs of our health care system.
The Quebec population expects much more climate action from the federal government. Above all, it expects consistency and ambition to achieve and exceed GHG reduction targets. This is why it is essential that the plan to cap and reduce emissions from the fossil fuel sector which will be debated in the coming months sees the light of day and finally succeeds in putting an end to the status quo. This is also why Quebecers, as well as Canadians from coast to coast, are organizing a day of action for an ambitious emissions cap on Thursday, May 25.
Ambition must be the watchword for a cap that aligns with science and does not allow industry to circumvent its obligations yet again by buying emission reductions elsewhere. Above all, the cap will have to take into account the principles of just transition, equity and environmental justice.