Despite federal ‘optimism,’ a new Environment Canada report indicates the country is not on pace to meet 2020 Copenhagen Accord emissions targets. Experts point to weak federal environmental policies, most notably in the oil and gas sector.
“The latest internal government report confirms Canada is not close to being on track to meet its promised target for emissions cuts by the year 2020,” writes Bruce Cheadle.
“In fact,” he continues, “the Environment Canada analysis released Thursday indicates the country slipped backward in 2012 in terms of achieving the government's greenhouse gas emissions target under the Copenhagen Accord.”
“Under that international agreement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed in 2009 to cutting Canada's emissions 17 per cent from 2005 levels by the year 2020.”
“Environmental groups say the latest Environment Canada report is indicative of the federal government's poor environmental policies. Even Environment Canada concedes in its analysis that many of the emissions reductions to date have come from provincial government actions.”
“‘Not only will the Harper government miss its own climate target, it is actually moving further and further away from that target,’ Christian Holz of Climate Action Network Canada said in a release.”
The United States on the other hand, “announced last month that it was on pace to meet [its] goal,” an obligation to the same 17 per cent reduction in emissions that Canada has committed to.
“The Pembina Institute issued a release saying it is not too late for the government to get serious. ‘The most crucial component of a credible plan to get Canada back on track is strong regulations for the oil and gas sector,’ said Pembina analyst P.J. Partington.”
Read the full story: Canada Won't Get Close To Meeting Emissions Targets: Environment Canada
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