Canadian greenhouse emissions to use outsized portion of what climate can bear: study

By The Canadian Press

New expert analysis suggests greenhouse gas emissions from Canada’s oil and gas industry will make up an outsized chunk of the remaining carbon the world’s atmosphere can take.

Angela Carter of the University of Waterloo says Canadian government projections suggest oil and gas production will increase until 2050.

She says those fossil fuels will use up 16 per cent of the globe’s so-called carbon budget — the amount of carbon that can be released and still keep global warming under 1.5 degrees C.

That’s a far greater percentage than Canada’s share of the globe’s population or economy.

Carter’s work comes a day after federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson promised 2019 was the last year Canadian greenhouse gas emissions would rise.

Carter says that given the oil and gas projections, meeting that pledge will require “heroic” reductions from other parts of the Canadian economy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2021.

The Canadian Press

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