Emission projections show Canada on track to achieve interim climate target
CBC
The latest emissions projection data suggests Canada is on track to achieve its interim climate target and is getting closer to achieving its 2030 climate goal.
Environment and Climate Change Canada released new modelling on Thursday showing the country's latest emissions pathway.
The projections are contingent on Canada following through with the full suite of policies announced in its 2030 emissions reduction plan, and the policies the federal government has announced since. It also includes measures that provincial and territorial governments are undertaking.
The modelling shows that Canada's climate-altering emissions should decrease by mid-decade, bending the curve toward the interim 2026 climate target.
Ottawa established an interim 2026 climate target under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.
That plan calls for a 20 per cent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2026 — 586 megatonnes, down from 732 megatonnes.
The latest projections say Canada is on track to hit 573 megatonnes by 2026.
"So the data says our climate plan is working," Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told a news conference Thursday.
The release of the emissions progress report coincided with the announcement of Ottawa's regulatory framework for capping oil and gas emissions.
The latest projections show Canada is on track to surpass its previous 2030 target of a 30 per cent emissions cut below 2005 levels. That target was set by the government of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
"In 2015, Canada was trending to exceed 2005 greenhouse gas emissions levels by nine per cent by 2030, but since then, many sectors of the economy have made real and measurable progress to lower their emissions," says a news release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
An energy think-tank applauded the government after the report was released.
"Since the current government assumed office, it has introduced several cornerstone emission-reduction measures, including carbon pricing, which is widely accepted as one of the most cost-effective ways to cut climate pollution," says a press release from Clean Energy Canada.
On Thursday, Wilkinson criticized the climate records of Harper and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
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