Ontario may miss 2020 GHG target

OREANDA-NEWS. July 13, 2015. Ontario's renewed push to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may come too late to meet its 2020 target, the Canadian province's environmental commissioner said yesterday.

The province plans to reduce emissions to 155mn metric tonnes by 2020 from 171mn t in 2013, but the 19mn t gap will be difficult to meet as new policy initiatives have not yet taken effect, according to a progress report issued by environment commissioner Ellen Schwartzel. The transportation sector is the province's main challenge for meeting the 2020 target, since it has already taken the relatively easy step of phasing out coal-fired power.

"Under the current suite of policy initiatives, Ontario will not meet its 2020 GHG emissions reduction target; nor will it ensure the province is prepared to manage climate change risks," said Schwartzel, who serves as the government watchdog for its environmental efforts.

Schwartzel said the government's overall level of ambition on addressing climate change "is encouraging," and she praised it for agreeing to adopt a cap-and-trade program. But the short period between the introduction of new emissions policies and 2020 make meeting the target "extremely challenging," she said.

Ontario's transportation emissions grew by 2.3mn t from 2012-13 to 60.1mt, making the sector the province's largest source of emissions.

The report criticized the government for not making its transportation sector emissions cuts easy to understand, saying it has presented only an overall estimate of reductions but has not said what specific programs are meant to achieve. The province recently introduced a biofuel blending program with carbon-intensity elements that should lower transportation emissions, but it is not clear what reductions it should achieve, the report said. Schwartzel also recommended the environment ministry should be put in charge of implementing a low-carbon fuel standard program the government committed to in 2007 but has not put in place.

Ontario Environment is working on the draft rules for the cap-and-trade program, which is expected to take effect by 2017. Ontario is in talks with California and Quebec to join their carbon market, including high-level meetings today in Toronto on the sidelines of the province's Climate Summit of the Americas.