EDMONTON — TIM WEIS, Senior Director of Industrial Decarbonization at the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the release of Canada’s National Inventory Report for 2024.
“The latest National Inventory Report tells a simple story. Emissions in Alberta are not decreasing, while the rest of the country makes progress.
“Oilsands companies continue to release increasing amounts of climate-changing greenhouse gases, wiping out Alberta’s reductions in other areas. The oilsands industry has not made sufficient progress towards the decarbonization needed to future-proof the sector and slow the effects of climate change. This is yet another reminder why the federal and Alberta governments must urgently reach an agreement on strong, effective industrial carbon pricing. Ramping up the minimum effective credit price to $130 per tonne by 2030 will unlock the high-growth, low-carbon investment we need to protect and create industrial jobs in Alberta.
“Alberta’s premier recently reaffirmed her commitment to the province’s plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, but today’s report shows little has been done to bring Alberta’s largest sources of emissions under control.
“The one success story on oil and gas emissions in Canada continues to be methane. Thanks to strong federal regulations – and continued leadership from provinces such as B.C. – oil and gas methane emissions in Canada have fallen by 43% since 2005. However, Alberta’s methane regulations, released at the end of March, are significantly weaker than the B.C. or federal rules. Unless the MOU talks produce better methane regulations in Alberta, the province will be an outlier on methane in Canada, and with comparable producers across the world.
“On electricity, absent a decent outcome on the MOU talks regarding the future of clean electricity policy in Alberta, 2024 will be the last year we see significant reductions in electricity sector emissions in the province. Alberta’s last remaining coal-fired power plant ceased operations 2024, but it was also the year investor confidence in Alberta’s renewables sector collapsed in response to the provincial government’s 2023-2024 moratorium on wind and solar projects. Since 2024, Alberta’s electricity market has undergone unprecedented changes and electricity sector emissions are soon likely to rise again – wiping out the gains of the coal phase-out – unless something significant changes as a result of the MOU.
“As part of the MOU, Alberta must make serious, credible plans to grow its electricity supply in a way that is most cost-effective and ensures long-term reliability and energy security. There is no realistic pathway to this outcome that does not include the widespread deployment of wind and solar; much more than is possible under current provincial red tape.”
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Key Facts
- From 2005-2024, Canada’s emissions fell by 10%, while Alberta’s rose by 4% during the same period.
- In the last recorded year (2023-24), Canada’s emissions fell by 0.3%, while Alberta’s emissions remained flat.
- Alberta is responsible for 38% of Canada’s emissions.
- Other than during the height of pandemic disruption in 2020, oilsands emissions have risen every single year for which records exist. Since 2005, oilsands emissions have increased by 187%. In the last year (2023-24), oilsands emissions increased by 3%.
- Methane emissions from oil and gas production have fallen by 43% since 2005, almost exclusively as a result of efforts by conventional (non-oilsands) oil and gas companies.
- Electricity sector emissions in Alberta from 2005-2024 fell by 64%, including by 17% from 2023-2024 – the last year that coal-fired power was operating in the province.
Contact
Alex Burton
Director, Communications
825-994-2558
