by Stephen Dafoe
At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday he would cap oil and gas emissions en route to a net-zero economy by 2050.
Trudeau announced Canada is working toward ending exports of thermal coal by no later than 2030, and capping and reducing pollution from the oil and gas sector to net-zero by 2050.
This will be accomplished by the government setting 5-year targets to ensure the sector makes “a meaningful contribution to meeting Canada’s 2030 climate goals.”
Canada’s new Minister of Environment and Climate Change, former Greenpeace Activist, Steven Guilbeault sent a letter seeking the advice of the Net-Zero Advisory Body on “how best to move forward on this approach.”
“Since the world came together for the Paris climate agreement in 2015, Canada has taken great strides in the fight against climate change – but there’s still much work to be done,” Guilbeault said in a media release Monday. “With our global partners, we will continue to play a constructive leadership role to move from ambitious hopes to realizing the benefits to our environment. Together, we will create jobs, build healthy communities, and transition to net zero.”
Kenney announces new carbon-reducing projects
Premier Jason Kenney chose, who is not attending the Glasgow conference, chose Monday to announce up to $176 million from the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system and federal Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund (LCELF) to announce 16 projects the UCP say will cut about seven million tonnes of emissions by 2030.
“Alberta continues to show leadership by using technology in practical ways to reduce emissions and combat climate change,” Kenney said. “These investments will help us grow our economy and pave the way to an even brighter future for all Albertans by building on Alberta’s strong foundation as a responsible and innovative energy leader.”
Among the projects being funded is a Capital Power initiative to turn carbon dioxide emissions from its Genesee facility into carbon nanotubes, preventing those emissions from entering the atmosphere.
Another project would retrofit three Canadian Pacific diesel locomotives to low-carbon hydrogen, which will create water vapour emissions only.
A third project will see the Indigenous-owned concrete, asphalt and recycling company Calgary Aggregate Recycling building the country’s first soil reuse facility. The project would see contaminated construction site soil processed into stone and sand products.
