Guilbeault Says Ottawa is ‘Bending the Emission Curve’ After Environment Commissioner Criticizes Lack of Tracking

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault rises during Question Period, Monday, April 4, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the Liberal government is “bending the emission curve” through its climate policies despite the federal environment commissioner criticizing Ottawa over its lack of tracking how much current greenhouse gas regulations are actually reducing emissions.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on April 20, Guilbeault pointed to a number of environmental initiatives being carried out by the government en route to its target of hitting net-zero emissions by 2050.

“We’re seeing large-scale investment in clean fuel production,” he said. “Electric vehicle sales have doubled since last year. All these measures combine and work together to drive down our overall emissions.”

“We continue to work to refine our reporting. In the meantime, as they say, the proof is in the pudding and that’s what we’re doing. We’re bending the emission curve.”

Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco tabled a report on the same day saying his office found that Guilbeault’s department “did not know the extent to which the greenhouse gas regulations we examined contributed to Canada’s overall emission reductions.”

The report, titled “Emission Reductions Through Greenhouse Gas Regulations,” said the Environment Department’s “approach to measuring emissions did not attribute emission results to specific regulations.”

It also found that Environment and Climate Change Canada “could not be certain whether regulations to limit methane emissions helped Canada reach its targets.”

Reducing methane emissions is one of the federal government’s key priorities outlined in its national climate plan, which it introduced in December 2020.

The plan sets a target of reducing methane emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector by at least 40 percent by 2025. Ottawa updated that goal in March 2022 by setting a new target to reduce methane emissions by 75 percent relative to 2012 levels over the next eight years.

“Without comprehensive impact information, the federal government does not know whether it is using the right tools to reduce emissions,” said DeMarco’s report.

Guilbeault said his department and Natural Resources Canada are both “already taking steps” to address the recommendations outlined by Demarco’s office in the series of reports tabled on April 20.

“We’re improving every year, but we won’t stop fighting climate change while we figure out reporting methodologies,” he said. “We’re moving full steam ahead with an ambitious climate plan.”

The environment minister also acknowledged that his department “can do better” in terms of tracking if regulations are actually reducing emissions.

“We need to improve our modeling methods to be able to determine which measures will lead to certain emission reduction,” he said.