Reducing Greenhouse Gases in Canada
National Role
Environment Canada is responsible for monitoring and reporting internationally on the state of the environment in Canada and for implementing international environmental agreements. Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), Environment Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Division has been designated as responsible for preparing and submitting the annual Canadian National Inventory Report on national greenhouse gas emissions and removals to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Environment Canada works with a variety of partners to develop and obtain technical and scientific information for the inventory, including Statistics Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada. The federal government is continuously working to improve GHG estimates, to ensure that Canada’s national inventory is credible, defensible, and stands the test of an external review. The BC Ministry of Environment is collaborating with Environment Canada to refine the BC provincial GHG estimates provided in the national inventory.
Canada’s GHG Inventory
As a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Canada is obliged to submit an inventory of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on an annual basis.
Using an internationally agreed-upon format, Canada's Greenhouse Gas Inventory monitors six gases: carbon dioxide (CO2) methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). It also provides an analysis of the factors underlying the trends in emissions since 1990.
Emissions and removals are grouped into six sectors:
- Energy;
- Industrial Processes;
- Solvent and Other Product Use;
- Agriculture; Land Use,
- Land-Use Change; and
- Forestry and Waste.
National Inventory Report 1990-2006: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada - The Canadian Government's Submission to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, April 2008 is the most recent annual report. It provides detailed data on and an analysis of Canadian GHG emissions at the national, provincial, and sectoral level.
Facility GHG Emissions Reporting
Unlike the National GHG Inventory which compiles GHG data at a national level, developed from national and provincial statistics, Environment Canada’s GHG Emissions Reporting program applies only to the largest industrial GHG emitters in Canada. In the GHG emissions reporting program, all facilities that emit the equivalent of 100,000 tonnes (100kt) or more of greenhouse gases (in CO2 equivalent units) per year are required to submit a report.
On December 8, 2007, the Government of Canada published a Notice under section 71 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) in the Canada Gazette Part I. The Notice set out requirements for most major industrial facilities in Canada to provide detailed GHG reporting data for the 2006 calendar year. The data would inform development of the federal framework on climate change.
ecoACTION: Action on Climate Change and Air Pollution
The Canadian federal framework on climate change sets out a plan to implement mandatory intensity-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for major industries starting in year 2010. According to the plan, companies within the majority of industries would have to cut their GHG emissions per unit of production by 18% from 2006 levels by 2010. Then each year after 2010 they would have to cut emissions intensity by a further 2%.
Action on Climate Change and Air Pollution - Brochure (Environment Canada)
A description of the Government of Canada's actions to fight climate change and air pollution.
"Turning the Corner" - Regulatory Framework for Industrial Air Emissions
(Environment Canada)
An in-depth Technical Briefing - May 2007 (PDF/243KB/41 pages)
Office of Energy Efficiency, Natural Resources Canada
The Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) is Canada's centre of excellence for energy conservation, energy efficiency and alternative fuels information. The OEE's manages the federal government’s ecoENERGY Efficiency Initiative programs to reduce energy use in buildings and houses, industry, retrofits, personal vehicles and fleets. The OEE publishes many comprehensive reports, such as the Energy Use Data Handbook, informing government, industry and the environmental and international communities about Canada's energy conservation and energy efficiency efforts.
Comprehensive Energy Use Database provides an overview of sectoral energy markets in Canada and in each region of the country. These tables are intended to complement data published in the fifth edition of the Energy Use Data Handbook, 1990 to 2005.
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