Canada’s oil companies are falling short on climate

As part of the Paris Agreement, Canada pledged to cut emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels. The Globe and Mail Editorial Board noted on September 24 that Canada is falling further behind its goal at the halfway point, with overall emissions down only eight per cent.

Today’s editorial notes that Canada’s oil and gas industries are not doing their share. Excluding the oil industry, our emissions are down 15 per cent since 2005. However, in the oil and gas sector, emissions are up 12 per cent, primarily due to increased production.

The Globe notes that governments have put roughly $15 billion worth of tax credits for carbon capture on the table with little to show for it in results from oil companies. On the positive side, government rules, when implemented, can have an impact—an example being government-regulated reductions in methane emissions.

Oil and gas companies have made “no shortage of pledges” to reduce emissions. But to date, little has actually been done, and emissions are going in the wrong direction. As the editorial concludes, “This has to change. The oil industry must heed its own declarations about a carbon-free future.”