Canada : September 09, 2010
Canada’s carbon emissions (per capita) are the second largest in the world with the United States being first. When Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol it established a 2020 target reduction in GHG of 20 percent against its 2006 emission levels. However, a mere four years later with no clear standards in place, Canada is now 30 percent short of its Kyoto reduction goal.
Why is Canada failing to reduce its GHG emissions? Simply put the two driving forces lacking are government regulation and market demand. Government regulation would provide clear standards which would create less market risk. In addition, without any market demand, standards and expectations vary and consequently “green washing” and other forms of green marketing occur without any solid backing.
The private sector is taking up the challenge with companies such as Kraft, Bank of Montreal and TD Bank taking part in carbon offset programs in order to make themselves sustainable. The Government has also instituted several carbon offset projects to counter GHG emissions including those implemented during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Examples of these offset projects include the creation of new forests, soil management, and investments in methane capture from landfills. Many see charging the real cost of environmental resources through emission trading and/or carbon taxes as key to reducing the nation’s GHG emissions. Canada is currently second to last in the OECD in using these types of market instruments. This is not only bad for the environment, but it impedes our competitive positioning in the greening global economy where, at present, the European Union stands as the clear leader.
Germany imposed a significant carbon tax in 1998 and established premium prices for clean energy in 2000. As a result, German renewable energy production has more than doubled in 8 years, 300,000 new jobs have been created, and its carbon emissions have been reduced by 57 million tonnes – an amount equal to the emissions of all of Canada’s automobiles. Norway’s carbon tax in 1991 motivated its Statoil Company to pioneer the world’s first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage operation, which saves about one million tonnes of carbon annually.
Clearly, Europe is showing the world the way, the only question that remains is whether the world, including Canada, is willing to follow.