Kyoto for Canada!

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Suncor processing facility and upgrader in the Alberta tar sands.

Canada ranks seventh from the bottom amongst the 41 industrialized nations that agreed to specific reduction targets under Kyoto.  When carbon emissions from land use and forestry are calculated in, Canada ends up the third worst with an increase of 54 per cent from 1990 to the end of 2005. The increase in emissions was lower in the United States, which has not even ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

Greenpeace is calling for Canada to honour its Kyoto commitment and then move on to further deep emission reductions - 30 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020 (to 417 Mt) and 80 per cent by 2050 (to 119 Mt).

The Harper Government: Planning for Climate Disaster

• Harper’s targets allow emissions to increase - The Harper government has committed to reducing Canada's total GHG emissions by 20 per cent based on 2006 levels by 2020 and by 60 per cent to 70 per cent by 2050. These targets, however, would actually allow emissions to increase to 598 megatonnes (Mt) a year from the 563 Mt that would have been achieved by 2012 under Kyoto.
• Intensity targets disguise emissions - For industry, the Harper government has set targets based on intensity or how much greenhouse gases are emitted per unit of economic activity. It is a misleading yardstick that can actually allow emissions to increase. For instance, between 1990 and 2005, the amount of energy used in production decreased nearly 18 per cent, but because total production increased, emissions actually rose by 25 per cent. Thus, intensity-based targets can be used to disguise a worsening trend in emissions.
• Government ignores climate science - Canadian Environment Minister John Baird said that "the science of climate change is clear", but he refuses to acknowledge the implications of that science. There is broad consensus that dangerous climate change can be avoided only by keeping the global average temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius. In order to do that, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded that industrialized countries must reduce their emissions by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020. However, the Harper government's target would allow an increase of emissions in 2020 from 1990 levels.
• Technology fund equals non-compliance - Instead of actually reducing emissions, the Harper government's climate policy allows corporations to contribute to a technology fund at a rate of $15 to $20 per tonne of carbon produced.  By under-pricing these contributions, the Harper government virtually guarantees that these corporations will not contribute their fair share to the reduction of the country's emissions.
• New base year rewards inactivity - The Harper government's use of 2006 as the baseline for emission levels and economic activity has the perverse result of rewarding some polluters and penalizing others. Some companies have already achieved significant reductions since 1990, yet receive no credit for doing so. Meanwhile, other companies, notably the oil and gas sector, have dramatically increased their emissions, but will receive credit for reductions going forward. Thus, companies that have delayed action for 15 years will be rewarded, while companies that have already reduced emissions will effectively face a competitive penalty in second-phase reductions, which are typically more expensive.
• ‘Credit for Early Action’ benefits big oil, gas and electric companies - The Harper government will allocate, on a one-time basis, credits to companies that reduced GHG emissions from 1992 to 2006. However, those credits have been capped at 15 Mt, despite estimates that 100 Mt were reduced, thus again rewarding companies that did nothing and penalizing those which took action. Credits should equal actual reductions, and an equal amount of reductions should be included in the targets for the real culprits in Canada's climate crisis - the oil and gas corporations and the electricity industry.

Kyoto for Canada: The Energy [R]evolution

The Harper government continues to claim that Canada's Kyoto target is unachievable, and if pursued, would result in economic disaster. Neither is true. Greenpeace's report, Energy [R]evolution, detailed how GHG emissions can be cut in half by 2050, with no coal or nuclear power, while allowing increased energy consumption and economic growth. Canada can still meet its Kyoto commitment by aggressively encouraging green energy technologies and efficiency measures, and by discouraging the burning of fossil fuels.

Stop the Tar Sands

GHG emissions from the tar sands and upgrading are about five times higher than conventional oil production, making them the single largest contributor to the growth of emissions in Canada. The tar sands have other devastating environmental impacts, including:

• Water use - To produce a single barrel of oil from the tar sands takes three to five barrels of fresh water, most of which ends up in toxic tailing ponds that already cover more than 50 square kilometers.
• Destruction of the Boreal Forest - Tar sands leases threatens 3000 square kilometres of Boreal Forest.
• Air pollution - Cumulatively, the tar sands have made Alberta the industrial air pollution capital of Canada, with one billion kilograms of emissions in 2003.
• Resource use - Tar sands operations use enough natural gas every day to heat more than three million homes.
• Reclamation - Despite promises, not a single site in the tar sands has been certified as reclaimed.

High oil prices have made the tar sands more competitive. It is estimated that oil production will increase by more than 150 per cent by 2011, and more than 300 per cent by 2020. This rapid expansion will swamp any emission reductions achieved by improved energy intensity.

Stop Deforestation & Forest Degradation

Deforestation, or the permanent conversion of forest to other land uses, is responsible for about one-fifth of GHG emissions worldwide. But greenhouse gas emission are even higher when those caused by industrial logging and other types of forest degradation are included. While tropical rainforests have been a central focus of international climate negotiations, protecting Canada's Boreal Forest is essential for regulating global climate as well. The Boreal stores more carbon in its trees, soils, and peatlands than any other land-based ecosystem in the world.

Canada's Boreal Forest is being logged at a rate of 900,000 hectares per year. This logging not only releases carbon directly into the atmosphere, but it also decreases the forest's ability to resist and recover from forest fires, insect outbreaks, and other disturbances that cause carbon to be released. Already, forest fires in Canada's Boreal have become more frequent and more intense. If current trends continue, forest degradation combined with rising global temperatures could lead to a massive release of carbon into the atmosphere. Less than 10 per cent of Canada's Boreal Forest is protected from industrial development.