Ottawa — Industry must do its fair share in Canada's implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, but that will only happen if the federal government's plans to regulate Canada's large industrial emitters of greenhouse gases avoid major loopholes and seize key opportunities, according to a new report released today by the Climate Action Network Canada. The report, entitled Doing Their Bit: Ensuring Large Industrial Emitters Contribute Adequately to Canada's Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, was prepared for the Network by the Pembina Institute.
"Industry emits more than half of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. More than anything else, successful implementation of Kyoto depends on the federal government delivering in full on the industrial emission reductions it has laid out in its climate change plan," said Matthew Bramley, Director, Climate Change at the Pembina Institute and author of the report.
The federal Climate Change Plan for Canada, released last November, assigns 92 out of 240 megatonnes of reductions in Canada's annual greenhouse gas emissions, required under Kyoto, to large industrial emitters. This group includes producers of electricity, oil and gas, minerals, pulp and paper, chemicals, steel and cement. The federal plan assigns 55 megatonnes to be reduced at industry's expense through a "covenants and emissions trading system" and another 37 megatonnes to be achieved with federal assistance. Further industrial emission reductions should come from government technology investments and provincial government actions.
The report analyzes the complex problems faced by the covenants and emissions trading system and provides recommendations to ensure the system succeeds. Key recommendations include the following:
- to avoid double counting, the covenants must require emission reductions that are fully additional to the emission reductions assigned elsewhere in the federal plan;
- the federal government must announce, as soon as possible, a strong regulatory backstop to the covenants system, without which the system could not be effectively negotiated or enforced;
- in light of the very high greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems of coal burning, covenants for the electricity sector must set targets that maximize the replacement of coal by alternatives;
- the federal government should follow the example of the European Union and begin regulating industrial greenhouse gas emissions in 2005, rather than run the risk of waiting until the beginning of the Kyoto Protocol compliance period in 2008.
For More information Contact:
John Bennett 613 241 4611 or 613 291 6888 or
Matthew Bramley 613 235 6288 ext 26
Note: Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal will be appearing before the Standing Committee on the Environment at 11 a.m., Thursday, June 12, 2003 and is expected to be questioned about implementing the Climate Change Plan for Canada.
