(OTTAWA) Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Monday that Canada’s promised emissions cap for the oil and gas sector will be ready by the end of next year.
In an interview from Egypt, where he is participating in the 27e conference on the United Nations climate, Mr. Guilbeault indicated that his government was drawing up these regulations in “record time”.
The final regulations should therefore be unveiled at least two years after the Liberals first promised during the election campaign in 2021 to cap emissions from the oil and gas sector.
“We will have a draft regulation perhaps by spring, at the latest in the first half of the year, declared Mr. Guilbeault. And then the goal is to have the regulations complete before Christmas, which is, you know, record time to develop regulations. The minister noted that it took more than five years to develop the Clean Fuel Regulations.
Many Canadian environmental organizations parties for this COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh hoped that Minister Guilbeault would at least use this international event to set the start of the cap.
Keith Brooks, head of programs at Environmental Defence, recalled that the oil companies made record profits last year, but showed no urgency to spend much of those profits on climate action. “I think if they knew where the ceiling is going to be, it might inject some urgency into the debate. »
Mr. Guilbeault himself had strongly criticized Canadian oil companies for directing more of their record profits to shareholders than to climate programs.
The only clues left so far by the government on the objectives of the cap are in the plan to reduce emissions, published in March. The plan set an interim emissions target for the oil and gas sector of 110 million tonnes in 2030, a reduction of 46% from 2019 levels and 32% from 2005.
Canada aims to reduce emissions in all sectors by 40 to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. Environmental Defense and the Climate Action Network Canada recalled at the start of this COP27 that the oil and gas sector should reduce by 60 % its emissions by 2030 compared to 2005.
Emissions on the rise
Emissions from oil and gas production represent about a quarter of Canada’s total carbon footprint; they are also 83% higher than 30 years ago. Overall emissions in Canada increased by approximately 23% over the same period.
Minister Guilbeault, who sat on the side of environmental activists at previous COP meetings before being elected MP in 2019, now finds himself accusing his former comrades in struggle of being “dishonest” by demanding that he produce ceiling information right now.
“Look, people who say we should do this now would be the first to criticize me if I didn’t do proper consultation with, for example, the Indigenous peoples of Canada – as we have a constitutional duty to do,” he said. he argued on Monday. They know very well how our system works. »
The procedure in Canada for enacting new regulations requires a number of consultations, including the publication of a draft regulation and the acceptance of public comments on the draft, before the publication of the final version.
“Frankly, I think it’s a bit dishonest to say ‘we want the cap now,'” Guilbeault said. They clearly know how it works. And we’re cutting the time it takes to develop regulations in half. »
The cap is not the only sticking point between the federal government and environmentalists in Egypt. Several groups have strongly criticized Canada for inviting oil and gas companies and banks that finance fossil fuel projects to the delegation.
On Friday, the Canadian pavilion at COP27 hosted an event with the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of Canada’s leading oil sands companies. Several environmental groups staged a noisy outing at the event.
Minister Guilbeault argued Monday that everyone should have a seat at the table. “I respectfully disagree with my former colleagues in the environmental movement,” he said. I think it’s a very slippery slope when governments start deciding, in a democratic society, who can participate and who can’t. »