Canada to Fall Well Short of Emissions Targets

Our self-imposed targets for lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 won't be reached without drastic action.

Well, it looks like the Conservative government's goal to cut Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent of 2005 levels by 2020 won't be happening, as a new study suggests the best the country can hope for is a reduction about half that large. While any reduction is welcome, the International Institute for Sustainable Development says Canada will fall well short of the 2020 goal, as we're on track to cut about 103 megatonnes of carbon emissions as opposed to the 223 megatonnes envisioned by the Tories. The institute says that by waiting around for the U.S. to put together some sort of cap-and-trade system, Canada has prevented itself from reaching its targets. Most of Canada's emissions cuts are to come from shifting away from coal power, Quebec and B.C.'s carbon taxes, and policies aimed at getting more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road. But the Obama administration's inability to implement a cap-and-trade system means there's little political will on this side of the border to go ahead anyway. Analysts suggest that if the Democrats take the White House and Congress in next year's election, then it's far more likely that Obama would be able to set such a system up.