I'm going to be so bold to argue that Canada's progress on greenhouse gas emissions, though not perfect, is getting better.
I'm going to be so bold to argue that Canada's progress on greenhouse gas emissions, though not perfect, is getting better.
In doing this, I will toss out some statistics that may surprise many Canadians, particularly those who read the many news headlines and are under the assumption that Canada is killing the rest of the planet with its horrible standing on CO2 emissions.
When looking for information on the Internet, one could find just about anything they wanted to support the argument they are attempting to make.
Greenhouse gas emissions is a big - if not the biggest - player when it comes to negativity surrounding it…justifiably so.
If one were to look at many of the articles found online, they would think Canada's greenhouse gas emissions continue to get worse and worse each year, and the current government is the ‘devil at the helm,' so to say, steering us into a black sandpit of tar.
Fact is, though Canada is not perfect when it comes to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, and may not reach its target by 2020, the situation is not as negative as some would like you to believe.
Some data for you:
Canada's greenhouse gas emissions for the year 1993 was 602 megatonnes (mt). The reason I am starting in 1993 is in an effort to compare a duo of Liberal Party governments (Jean Chretien: 1993-2003 and Paul Martin: 2003-06) with Stephen Harper's current Conservative government (2006-present) - 13 years of Liberal reign with 8 years of Conservative…not scientific, but interesting nevertheless.
Back to 1993. Under Chretien and Martin, CO2 levels went from 602 mt to 728 by 2003; a 21 per cent increase in 13 years. Under Martin, it should be noted to be fair, levels decreased from 740 mt to 728 mt.
Since the Conservative government took over in 2006, greenhouse gas emissions have gone from 728 mt to 699 mt in 2012, which is the most recent year that CO2 emissions have conclusive measurements.
A four per cent drop over a six-year span.
Is this great? Not really. It is not, however, the dire scenario many would have you believe.
Canada signed the Copenhagen Accord in 2009, which tasked the country with reducing its CO2 emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020, equating to a total of 614 mt of greenhouse gases for the year.
We will not make it.
We are, however, doing much better than if the government had made no measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at all. If that had been the case, CO2 levels would have reached 862 mt by 2020…a 16.5 per cent increase.
This would be a good spot to mention the Kyoto Protocol, which, as I mention later in this column, if it is not imposed on all countries of the world (for example, China, which is the world's largest CO2 emitter), many would argue that it does nothing but set an example. But isn't the point to save our planet, and not simply set an example that others may or may not follow?
Let us take a look at per capita CO2 emissions, because the country has grown over the past decade and has a current population of 35.4 million (Canada's population in 1993 was 28.7 million).
Per capita CO2 emissions has dropped since 2006, but in true Internet fashion, how much depends on where you look.
According to The World Bank, Canada's CO2 emissions for 2010 were 14.7 metric tons per capita. Since 2005, our per capita CO2 emissions have gone down each year (17.3, 16.8, 16.5, 16.4, 15.3 and 14.7).
According to Environment Canada, the per capita greenhouse gas emissions from 1993-2006 went from 21 mt of CO2 to 22.3 mt.
From 2006 to 2012, that number went from 22.3 mt to 20.1 mt.
Both use different measurements - a metric tonne is equal to 1,000 kilograms, while a megatonne is one million tons. Tricky to wrap one's head around, but the point should be whether the numbers increase or decrease.
Comparing Canada on a worldwide scale is also interesting (and under yet another measurement - kilotonnes (kt)).
The Top 3 yearly greenhouse gas emitters are China (8.2 billion kt), the U.S. (5.4 billion kt) and the European Union (3.7 billion kt).
Canada is number 10 with 499,137 kt.
The Top 3 CO2 emitters account for 51.85 per cent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions; Canada…1.48 per cent. China alone is responsible for nearly a quarter of the world's CO2 emissions.
The world emits 33.6 billion kt of CO2 each year.
Current Canadian government estimates suggest it would cut CO2 emissions to 720 mt by 2020 - a 20-mt decrease from 2005, but a 28-mt increase from 2010.
Alberta and Saskatchewan are the main culprits when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions (surprise, surprise, with both being the top provinces for oil and gas exploration), with Alberta at 63.4 mt per year and our neighbours to the east at 69.8 mt…19 per cent of Canada's total.
Of course, with Alberta and Saskatchewan making payments of billions of dollars toward Canada's equalization payments (‘have' provinces paying money to ‘have not' provinces) there ought to be some leeway here if all the provinces are going to survive at this point in time.
Though all of this information could make your head spin uncontrollably, the theme is this: Canada's greenhouse gas emissions have gone down since 2005, both for the country as a whole and per capita.
If the government's projections are correct, this will not continue once 2020 rolls around, which is unfortunate.
That being said, 720 megatonnes of CO2 in 2020 is less than what levels were at in 2005.
This is not to say that a 2.2 per cent decrease over the span of 15 years is something to be overly proud of, but, with our world still hungry for fossil fuels, the hope is that the recent boom in hydraulic fracturing and other means of energy exploration can tide the world over until further advancements can be made on cleaner energy sources.
