(Montreal) At a time when carbon pricing is the subject of disputes and virulent debates on the political scene, the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, indicated that two other major projects risk causing “d ‘important battles’ over the coming months: the regulation on the carbon-neutral electricity network and that on the cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector.
Minister Guilbeault was in Montreal on Friday for the “Convertgence Strategic Forum”, organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM).
During a discussion with the president of the CCMM, Michel Leblanc, the Minister of the Environment explained that he still had “two big pieces to put in place” in the fight against climate change.
One of these big pieces is the final version of the clean electricity regulations that the minister must present “sometime in the middle of the year”.
With this regulation, the government expects that 342 megatonnes of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions will be eliminated between 2024 and 2050.
The country’s electricity grid is already nearly 85% clean, but demand is expected to double by 2050 as cars, buses and trains go electric.
In the last federal budget, the Liberals set aside more than $45 billion to build a clean network.
But Alberta and Saskatchewan have both already used their sovereignty laws to oppose this regulation.
“I would say that, in general, in all the provinces and territories, things are going quite well, except for two notable exceptions who have decided to make it an existential battle,” confided Steven Guilbeault, referring to the two provinces in the west of the country which oppose this regulation.
Another “big battle”
The regulation on the cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector “is going to be another big battle,” indicated Minister Guilbeault.
Last December, the federal government proposed the outline of its plan to cap GHG emissions from the oil and gas sector in 2030, 35 to 38% below 2019 levels. But in reality, if we takes into account the relaxations, the industry will be able to produce emissions levels 20 to 23% below 2019 levels provided that it purchases offset credits or contributes to a decarbonization fund.
Ottawa intends to publish draft regulations by mid-2024 and have final regulations in place in 2025.
“We will support companies in this,” promised Steven Guilbeault on Friday, emphasizing that the proposed emissions cap aims to limit pollution, and not production.
This regulation will “jeopardize hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in the Alberta economy,” denounced the premier of this province, Danielle Smith, last December, promising to lead another legal battle , arguing that Ottawa had once again exceeded its jurisdiction.
“It’s going to be difficult, but it’s necessary,” argued Steven Guilbeault, emphasizing that “all other sectors contribute” to the fight against climate change.
“While in the oil and gas sector, there has been a strong increase (in GHGs) which cancels out all the other gains in the other sectors and in the other provinces,” indicated the minister.
“There is an inequity and as a government, we do not accept that. The idea is not to close the tar sands”, but rather “to work with companies to ensure that the level of pollution decreases”, underlined the minister, adding that “it risks being a big battle, but a necessary battle.”
Increase in the price of carbon
During a brief press briefing with journalists, Steven Guilbeault also commented on carbon pricing which arouses strong opposition among federal and provincial conservative elected officials.
The minister estimates that carbon pricing will reduce emissions in the country by up to a third by 2030.
“So if there is someone somewhere who can find me a zero-cost measure and who is capable of giving us a third of our emissions reductions, let that person come and see me, because for me, that’s I’ve been working on this for 30 years and I don’t know anything about it,” said Steven Guilbeault.
He added that it “will be a pleasure for him to go to the polls and debate with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives on the need to put a price on pollution and fight against climate change in the next federal election.”
Carbon pricing is expected to increase next month by $15 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, to $80. The price was set at $65 per tonne in 2023 and must then increase by $15 per year, to reach $170 per tonne in 2030.
In addition to Alberta, the governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Saskatchewan have requested a suspension of the annual increase in federal rates, on 1er april.
The federal government’s annual “Price on Carbon Pollution” report, released in spring 2023, indicated that checks sent in 2021 for “carbon pricing” far exceeded what most recipients paid. that year by purchasing hydrocarbons.
This pricing does not apply to Quebec and British Columbia, two provinces which have implemented their own emissions reduction regime approved by Ottawa.