Study shows jump in Canadian greenhouse gasses

A new report shows Canada is one of the world's highest per capita greenhouse-gas emitters.

A study from Statistics Canada says Canada trails only the United States and Australia when it comes to the amount of greenhouse gases each of its citizens emits on average annually.

Each Canadian was responsible for just over 23 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions in 2005, the agency says, compared with an annual average of 24.4 tonnes in the States and 27.7 tonnes in Australia.

That's markedly higher than countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Japan, whose per capita emissions were roughly half Canada's.

But the per capita figure doesn't factor in variables such as Canada's largely resource-based economy, northern climate and vast land mass -- all of which contribute to its emission levels.
The study says Canada has about half a per cent of the world's population, but contributes about two per cent of the total global greenhouse-gas emissions.

"This puts Canadians among the highest per capita emitters, largely as a result of the size of the country, the low density of the population, the high energy demands imposed by the climate, our resource-based economy, and the volume of goods we export," says the report, released to coincide with Earth Day.

Statistics Canada says one tonne of greenhouse-gas emissions is equivalent to driving a mid-size car about 5,000 kilometres, or 20 cars idling two minutes each a day for a year.

The report largely reiterated previously released information -- such as a 25 per cent-increase in greenhouse-gas emissions between 1990 and 2005 -- but it attracted attention by virtue of its Earth Day release.

"We've known for awhile that Canada's emissions are up, that we're at the bottom of the pile -- or at the top, depending on your perspective -- when it comes to greenhouse-gas emissions per capita," said Dale Marshall, a policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation.

That didn't stop Environment Minister John Baird from using the study as ammunition to fire a salvo at the previous Liberal government's environmental record.

"It's the final nail in the coffin of the Liberals' record on the environment. It's a huge increase. They made big promises and then delivered nothing," he said.

The Conservatives unveiled details last month of their greenhouse-gas reduction plan, which they say will result in a 20 per cent reduction in emissions from 2006 levels by 2020.

That rankled environmental groups and opposition parties, who wanted the Tories to use the 1990 baseline year set out in the Kyoto Protocol.

Source: London Free Press