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Category: Press Release

  • Statement on Proposed Act to Ban Fossil Fuel Advertising & Greenwashing

    Statement by Emilia Belliveau, Energy Transition Program Manager

    Montréal/Tiohtià:ke | Traditional, unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk Nation, a gathering place for many First Nations, including the Anishinaabeg – We applaud the introduction of the Private Member’s Bill C-372, banning false advertising by the oil and gas industry in Canada. If passed into law, the bill would be a valuable step toward limiting misinformation about fossil fuels and countering greenwashing.

    The fossil fuel industry has a long and well documented history of denying climate science and funding advertising campaigns to greenwash oil and gas. The industry’s advertisements have misled the public about climate change, downplayed or failed to acknowledge that fossil fuels are causing the climate crisis, ignored the damaging impact fossil fuels have on our health, and misrepresented the “sustainability” of companies or their role in the energy transition. We must be clear: effective climate action requires a transition away from fossil fuels.

    Greenwashing is pervasive as the world moves to tackle the climate crisis. But federal regulations and consumer protections in Canada are lacking when it comes to fossil fuel companies’ faulty environmental claims. The Competition Bureau has launched investigations into false advertising by Shell and the Pathways Alliance, both of which changed or stopped running their ads in response. In January, the Competition Bureau announced that it would begin an investigation of Enbridge Gas.

    With so many instances of greenwashing and false or misleading claims, the oil and gas industry is manipulating the public’s understanding of the negative climate, health, and environmental consequences of fossil fuels. Continuing to allow fossil fuel advertisements is a threat to climate action, as well as public health and safety. We urge all parties to support Bill C-372.

    Background Information

    • The bill was put forward yesterday by Member of Parliament Charlie Angus. It will need to be debated in Parliament before moving through the legislative process.
    • Similar in form to the 1997 Tobacco Act that put strong restrictions on promotion and advertising of smoking and cigarettes, Bill C-372 prohibits the promotion of fossil fuels or the production of oil, coal, and gas, particularly in a manner that is false, misleading or deceptive. It also prohibits a producer or retailer from offering rebates or gifts in exchange for purchasing fossil fuel products. It makes exceptions for the production of artistic or scientific work, and does not ban signage at retail and sale locations.
    • Corporate greenwashing isn’t new, but has come under increased scrutiny as action to address climate change becomes more urgent. To help address the issue, the United Nations appointed former Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, to lead a high profile committee to tackle greenwashing. The High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities has developed recommendations on how non-state actors like companies must act in alignment with their net-zero commitments, in order not to greenwash.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

     

    The post Statement on Proposed Act to Ban Fossil Fuel Advertising & Greenwashing appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Indigenous and Environmental Groups Denounce Government Inaction on First Anniversary of Imperial Oil Tailings Disaster

    ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, KEEPERS OF THE WATER

    Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – A year ago, news broke that Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine had been leaking toxic industrial wastewater for over nine months while keeping local Indigenous communities in the dark. The public only learned about the leak after a subsequent spill at the same facility, which released 5.3 million litres of industrial waste into the environment. Despite this, a year later, Imperial Oil has not faced charges or penalties under the Fisheries Act or provincial environmental protection laws. 

    “It is infuriating that no one has faced legal consequences for the Imperial Oil disaster and cover up. Governments watch as oil companies break the rules, raking in record profits while leaving an environmental disaster. The tar sands’ toxic tailings grow larger every day, threatening rivers, wildlife, and entire communities. Imperial Oil must be charged, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s time for a moratorium on tailings growth and a credible plan to clean up this toxic mess. Anything less leaves communities at the mercy of corporate negligence,” said Aliénor Rougeot, Climate and Energy Program Manager at Environmental Defence 

    “The Imperial Oil disaster confirmed what our communities have said for generations: big polluters are free to do whatever they want in our traditional territory – our backyards. The Alberta Energy Regulator has shown us over and over that it is willfully neglecting to keep us safe from toxic waste and pollution. It must be dismantled and rebuilt with a co-governing body, where downstream impacted Indigenous communities have policy-making authority and leadership roles,” said Jesse Cardinal, Executive Director at Keepers of the Water. 

    Environmental Defence expert Aliénor Rougeot, Climate and Energy Program Manager, will testify before the Parliamentary Environment Committee (ENVI) today about the impacts of tar sands mining, including its toxic tailings waste on groundwater. 

    Background information:

    • The Alberta Energy Regulator issued an order on February 6th, 2023, to Imperial Oil, Canada’s 3rd largest oil sands producer, in response to two incidents in which wastewater from toxic tailings leaked into the environment. One of the incidents spilled 5.3 million litres of industrial waste.
    • Indigenous and environmental groups sent a letter to the federal and Alberta governments, urging action on the Imperial Oil leak, such as bringing federal charges under the Fisheries Act.
    • In 2020, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an environmental agency created under NAFTA, confirmed the tar sands tailings ponds were leaking toxic chemicals into groundwater and that these leaks violate Canada’s Fisheries Act. 
    • The tar sands’ tailings “ponds” now contain over 1.4 trillion litres of toxic waste and cover an area more than two times the size of the city of Vancouver. 
    • See this tailings fact sheet for more information.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    About KEEPERS OF THE WATER (keepersofthewater.ca): Keepers of the Water are First Nations, Métis, Inuit, environmental groups, concerned citizens, and communities working together for the protection of water, air, land, and all living things within the Arctic Ocean Drainage Basin.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Paula Gray, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    Jesse Cardinal, Keepers of the Water, ed@keepersofthewater.ca

    The post Indigenous and Environmental Groups Denounce Government Inaction on First Anniversary of Imperial Oil Tailings Disaster appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement: The Ontario Government’s So-Called “Get It Done” Bill Would Revive the Sprawl and Land Speculation Scandal

    urban sprawl taking over farmland

    Statement by Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager, on reports of forthcoming legislation to reinstate forced boundary expansions and circumvent expropriation & land use rules

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Environmental Defence is concerned by recent reports in the Narwhal that the Ontario government is contemplating a new bill that would throw gasoline on the government’s smoldering sprawl and real estate scandal. Ironically referred to as the “Get It Done Act”, this rumoured new bill would actually make it more difficult for Ontario municipalities to fix the affordable housing shortage and GTA traffic gridlock.

    The potential new law would reignite the Ontario government’s sprawl and land speculation scandal in three main ways:

    • The bill being considered would backtrack on last year’s reversal of the corrupt settlement boundary expansions that were imposed on Golden Horseshoe regions in 2022. While the government did not reverse unnecessary expansions approved by regional governments, the reversals that were made received praise from both housing supply and environmental advocates as a modest and necessary step in curbing sprawl and addressing the real estate scandal.
    • The so-called “special building zones” reported on by the Narwhal appear calculated to let the provincial government take over local decision-making power in order to accelerate hand-picked projects. This would let the province  force municipalities to divert infrastructure and resources away from building more labour and cost-efficient housing in existing neighbourhoods in order to prioritize sprawl subdivisions.
    • Finally, the bill is designed to prevent landowners who aren’t in on the Highway 413 scheme from legally challenging the seizure of their land. This appears to be designed to help the Ontario government move quickly to destroy habitats, waterways and indigenous sites that fall within federal jurisdiction, in the event that delays in introducing an updated  federal Impact Assessment Act creates a temporary gap in federal environmental protections. While the federal government has clear jurisdiction to review the Highway 413 project, a recent court decision means the impact assessment that is currently protecting the affected swathe of farms, forests, and wetlands must be transitioned to a revised Impact Assessment Act. If the federal government fails to introduce the new Act before the old one becomes invalid, there could be a temporary gap in protection.

    News of this potential bill should be a wake-up call to Ontarians that this government has still not learned its lesson. It remains fixated on finding new ways to divert scarce construction labour, equipment and infrastructure to low-density sprawl at the expense of efficient and compact family homes within existing settlement areas. It also reveals a government that is willfully disregarding the mounting evidence that it would be much cheaper and faster to subsidize trucks to use the nearby 407 to free up commuter space on the 401.

    Despite all the successes of the past year, Ontarians will need to keep up the pressure to prevent the government from returning to its old, sprawling ways. 

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Carolyn Townend, Environmental Defence
    media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Statement: The Ontario Government’s So-Called “Get It Done” Bill Would Revive the Sprawl and Land Speculation Scandal appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Media Advisory: Environmental Defence Expert Testifying at Parliamentary Environment Committee on Anniversary of Imperial Oil Disaster

    Expert Testimony on the Impact of Toxic Tailings on Groundwater

    Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – Tomorrow, Environmental Defence expert Aliénor Rougeot, Climate and Energy Program Manager, will testify before the Parliamentary Environment Committee (ENVI) about the impacts of tar sands mining, including its toxic tailings waste on groundwater. This testimony comes on the first anniversary of Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine disaster in the tar sands, which spilled 5.3 million litres of toxic tailings into the surrounding environment.

    Who: Aliénor Rougeot, Climate and Energy Program Manager, Environmental Defence.

    When: Tuesday, February 6th, 2024.

    Where: Ottawa, ON, and available remotely.

    Rougeot will speak to the risks and impacts of the over 1.4 trillion litres of tailings (wastewater produced in the oil extraction process) on groundwater. The tailings contain a dangerous mixture of chemicals, including heavy metals and naphthenic acids. A recent scientific study has also revealed that tar sands companies have underreported their toxic emissions by up to 6300 per cent — a significant portion of which may be coming from toxic tailings. The full extent of the danger presented by oil sands process water on human health remains understudied.

    Background Information:

    • Toxic tailings ponds now cover an area of over 300 sq km, equivalent to 2.6 times the size of the city of Vancouver.
    • In 2020, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation surveyed all publicly available peer-reviewed studies and concluded there is scientifically valid evidence of oil sands process water (tailings) seepage into the groundwater around tailings ponds.
    • In May 2022, Imperial Oil workers discovered tailings fluid leaking offsite from the company’s Kearl oil sands mine onto nearby land. Internal reports reveal that seepage from this tailings pond has been ongoing since 2020.
    • Imperial Oil reported the leak to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and met with the provincial regulator, but the general public and nearby Indigenous communities were not informed about the extent and seriousness of the leak for over nine months.
    • In February 2023, 5.3 million litres of wastewater spilled from the same Imperial Oil tailings area. The toxic waste leaked into boreal wetlands and tributaries where water drains to drinking water sources. It was only through this second spill that Indigenous communities fully learned of the extent of the pervasive belowground leak, which is still ongoing to this day.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry, and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate, and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Paula Gray, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Media Advisory: Environmental Defence Expert Testifying at Parliamentary Environment Committee on Anniversary of Imperial Oil Disaster appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Media Advisory: Climate Experts Available to Comment on Premier Smith’s Visit to Ottawa

    Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith will be in Ottawa on Monday, February 5th. According to Politico, Premier Smith will be opening an Alberta office in Ottawa.

    Over the past two months, Premier Smith has been vocal in her opposition to critical federal policies designed to combat climate change and its devastating impact on our economy, our communities and the environment. These policies include new clean electricity rules, the Sustainable Jobs Act and the proposed cap on emissions from the oil and gas industry – even though the proposed emissions cap has support from the majority of Albertans. Premier Smith also spent $8 million on an ad campaign designed to spread misinformation about clean electricity.

    Premier Smith has attacked clean energy in her own province of Alberta. Her decision to impose a moratorium on renewable energy faced widespread opposition across the province, given its impact on the economy. Alberta generates almost 40 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions – more than any other province – and is the only province where emissions have gone up significantly over the past two decades.

    While Premier Smith visits Ottawa, presumably to stir up opposition to the global effort to combat climate change, Alberta braces itself for a historic drought impacting every corner of the province, alongside what is expected to be a devastating fire season. Of course, these are both connected to warmer and drier conditions, which are a result of rising global temperatures.

    Experts from Environmental Defence Canada will be available to comment on Premier Smith’s visit and the importance of critical federal climate change policies, such as the clean electric regulations, the Sustainable Jobs Act and an emissions cap on oil and gas pollution.

    When: Monday, February 5th, and throughout the week

    Who:

    • Julia Levin, Associate Director National Climate, Environmental Defence – Ottawa

    • Aly Hyder Ali, Oil and Gas Program Manager, Environmental Defence – Ottawa

    • Aliénor Rougeot, Climate and Energy Program Manager, Environmental Defence – Ottawa and remote

    Where: Ottawa, Ontario

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Media Advisory: Climate Experts Available to Comment on Premier Smith’s Visit to Ottawa appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement in Response to Parliamentary Budget Office’s Costing of the Carbon Capture and Hydrogen Investment Tax Credits

    Statement by Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate

    Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – New analysis released today from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) demonstrates that the Government of Canada is still intent on providing massive subsidies to fossil fuel companies.

    The PBO’s new analysis provides cost estimates for the carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) investment tax credit (ITC) as well as the clean hydrogen ITC. The PBO estimates that these two tax credits will collectively provide over $11 billion to carbon capture and hydrogen projects by 2028.

    Carbon capture and storage is a dangerous distraction being promoted by the oil and gas industry to prolong business as usual. Though the PBO was not able to release information on the specific projects, the majority of the projects that have been proposed to date are in the energy sector. Similarly, many of the hydrogen projects included in the analysis were for the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels.

    These tax credits violate the Government of Canada’s own rules around ending fossil fuel subsidies, released last year. The new rules were supposed to ensure that government spending aligns with a 1.5 degree pathway and don’t hinder the transition to renewable energy. These tax credits fail on both fronts.

    The new analysis shows that Minister Freeland’s CCUS tax credit is likely to cost $5.746 billion by 2028. That’s nearly $1 billion more than Finance Canada had estimated in Budget 2023. However, these tax credits are being designed without a ceiling. That means the final cost for Canadian taxpayers could end up being much, much greater. For example, the Pathways Alliance could claim at least $6 billion for their proposed $16.5 billion carbon capture hub – that’s just one project.

    At COP28, countries promised to transition away from fossil fuels and triple renewable energy in the next six years. Canada needs massive investments to deliver on those really critical climate promises. Instead, Minister Freeland is doubling down on the dangerous distractions being promoted by oil and gas companies. Though a clean electricity tax credit is also in the works, its development has been much slower and the draft rules have yet to be released.

    Minister Freeland and the Government of Canada must stop prioritizing massively expensive, risky, unnecessary and ineffective technofixes over reliable and proven climate solutions. Taxpayer money should go to climate solutions – like wind and solar power and energy storage. Not to the companies and activities which are fueling the climate crisis.

    Background Information: 

    • The PBO’s analysis costed the two tax credits until 2028. According to Budget 2023, the CCUS ITC could cost $9.1 billion by 2030 and possibly $16 billion by its expected phase-out date of 2041. The hydrogen tax credit could cost $17.7 billion by 2035. Whereas the CCUS ITC rules have been finalized, the draft hydrogen ITC rules are currently undergoing consultation. British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta are the only jurisdictions currently eligible for the CCUS ITC.

    • The development of the CCUS ITC was opposed by over 400 of Canada’s leading experts.

    • The CCUS ITC is the largest, but not the only, federal program meant to support carbon capture. Last fall Natural Resources Canada released a list of 22 measures that the federal government has implemented to support the deployment of CCUS.

    • Oil and gas companies are not spending their own money on carbon capture, despite record breaking profits.

    • The International Energy Agency has called the oil and gas industry’s carbon capture plans a fantasy and warned governments against allowing companies to use these plans to justify business as usual. “Continuing with business-as-usual for oil & gas while hoping a vast deployment of carbon capture will cut the emissions is fantasy,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said late November.

    • A new report out of Oxford University finds that heavy dependence on carbon capture to reach net zero would be “highly economically damaging”, costing at least $30 trillion more than a route based primarily on renewable energy, energy efficiency and electrification.

    • The issue of companies claiming credits for unverified tons of captured carbon is rampant in the United States, where a similar tax credit is in place. An investigation by the US Internal Revenue Service found that 87 per cent of the total credits claimed, amounting to nearly US $1 billion, were not in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca, 416-356-2587

    The post Statement in Response to Parliamentary Budget Office’s Costing of the Carbon Capture and Hydrogen Investment Tax Credits appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement: Decision to Keep Single-Use Plastic Bans in Effect During Government Appeal Is in the Best Interest of the Public and the Environment

    Plastic bags full of groceries in the trunk of a car

    Statement from Senior Program Manager for Plastics, Karen Wirsig, on the decision to stay the ruling on the plastics listing to protect the ban on single-use plastics

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – We are pleased that the Federal Court of Appeal agreed with the government that the plastics listing and the ban on single-use plastics must stand while the government appeals the lower court decision quashing the listing of plastic manufactured items as a toxic substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

    Federal action on plastic pollution is in the public interest and banning harmful single-use plastics is an important measure to protect the environment. Businesses have already moved away from these polluting items and people in Canada have embraced the change. It would make no sense to move backward on the bans now, especially before the courts have a final word on the plastic industry’s case.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Lauren Thomas, Environmental Defence, lthomas@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Statement: Decision to Keep Single-Use Plastic Bans in Effect During Government Appeal Is in the Best Interest of the Public and the Environment appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement that Canada Should Pay Close Attention to the US Decision to Delay Reviews of LNG Exports, Citing Climate and Cost of Living

    Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate

    Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – Governments in Canada must pay close attention to today’s decision by President Biden to put the brakes on new natural gas export projects.

    Earlier this morning, the U.S. administration announced it is halting reviews of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects in order to better evaluate both the climate change impacts and the cost of living impacts of those projects.

    In Canada, climate change is still not a significant part of how fossil fuel projects are evaluated. As a result, governments keep approving climate bombs, like the giant Bay du Nord offshore oil project. The Government of Canada should follow President Biden’s lead and implement a climate test that requires a comprehensive review of the climate, health, environmental justice and economic impacts of fossil fuel projects.

    In addition to the climate impacts, the US administration also cited cost of living concerns as a reason for its decision. Research shows that developing LNG projects for export increases the cost of natural gas domestically, leading to higher bills for households that use the fossil fuel to heat their homes or cook with. Pausing LNG exports is a concrete way to stop the cost of living crisis from getting worse.

    Today’s decision underpins how shaky both the economic and climate rationales for new fossil gas projects are, particularly given the volatility of LNG prices and declining long-term global demand. At COP28, countries sent a clear message that we’re at the end of the fossil fuel era. President Biden’s decision further drives the point home. Canada should follow.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca, 416-356-2587

     

    The post Statement that Canada Should Pay Close Attention to the US Decision to Delay Reviews of LNG Exports, Citing Climate and Cost of Living appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Tar Sands Companies Underreported Pollution Levels By Up To 6300 Per Cent

    Statement from Aliénor Rougeot, Climate and Energy Program Manager

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – The revelations from today’s report are deeply disturbing, but not surprising, given the industry’s track record. Oil companies in the tar sands are emitting 1900 to 6300 per cent more polluting gases than what they have been reporting.

    It’s outrageous that the oil industry has been getting away with only measuring and reporting a fraction of its pollution – and using this information to dismiss health concerns raised by local Indigenous communities for decades. Communities were told they were safe, but today’s report validates their concerns about the ongoing stench and unbreathable air.

    The government must thoroughly investigate how this negligence was allowed to happen. From leaking toxic tailings to polluting gases, oil companies repeatedly keep communities and governments in the dark while they profit off destruction.

    These findings also add to the mountain of evidence that the industry is incapable of safely managing its toxics tailings. Months ago, the same communities were grappling with a massive tailings leak that was kept secret for over nine months. Now, evidence shows that the bulk of unreported emissions could be coming from toxic tailings. Companies must be forced to use their massive profits to clean up their mess.

    Background info: 

    • Scientists from Yale University and the Government of Canada’s Environment and Climate Change department released a new study showing total emissions of carbon compounds in the oil sands are 20 to 64 times higher than reported.
    • Carbon organic compounds are carbon-containing gases and vapors such as gasoline fumes and solvents (but excluding carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and chlorofluorocarbons). Many carbon organic compounds are known or suspected of having direct toxic effects on humans, ranging from carcinogenesis to neurotoxicity.
    • The study finds that total carbon emissions from the tar sands alone are more than the total reported across all industries for 2018.
    • The study names Syncrude, Suncor, and Canadian Natural Resources as the three highest emitters.
    • The main reason for the discrepancy between actual and reported emissions is that some types of carbon compounds were not taken into account by monitoring and reporting studies, despite being required by the National Pollutant Release Inventory.
    • The authors hypothesise that tailings could be an important source of the unreported emissions.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Paula Gray, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Tar Sands Companies Underreported Pollution Levels By Up To 6300 Per Cent appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Environmental Defence Applauds Competition Bureau of Canada for Starting Investigation into Enbridge Gas for Misleading Advertising

    Exterior of the Enbridge Gas headquarters building in Toronto

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – The Competition Bureau of Canada has officially launched an investigation into Enbridge Gas’ marketing campaign targeting new gas customers. The complaint, filed by Environmental Defence, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and a number of affected residents, calls out Enbridge for claiming that gas is the most cost effective way for Ontarians to heat their homes, when heat pumps are in fact the least expensive option. It also flags misleading language suggesting that gas is “clean energy” and “low carbon.”

    “Enbridge’s dishonest marketing is duping people into installing new gas hook ups and spending thousands of dollars on new gas furnaces and other appliances, falsely claiming it’s cheaper than heating with electricity which is just not true,” said Keith Brooks, Programs Director at Environmental Defence. “It is good that the Competition Bureau has agreed to investigate Enbridge.”

    These misrepresentations are causing real harm. Customers in gas expansion areas stand to lose thousands of dollars if they switch to gas instead of installing high-efficiency electric heat pumps (over the lifetime of the equipment). Gas expansion will also create far more carbon pollution, making it more difficult and expensive to reach federal climate targets.

    “I am outraged by Enbridge’s campaign filled with misleading information about the cost and environmental impact of its polluting product. Its new pipeline in Selwyn Township will deliver harmful fossil gas to our residents who will be locked in to higher prices for decades,” said Guy Hanchet, a resident of Selwyn, Ontario.

    The complaint was initially limited to marketing materials aimed at areas where Enbridge is expanding its natural gas pipeline network. It has since been expanded to include deceptive marketing aimed at all of its 3.8 million customers in Ontario claiming that natural gas is the most affordable option on the market, which is not true.

    “I cannot believe Enbridge has been allowed to mislead people for so long about the cost of its gas compared to heat pumps. We have a heat pump installed in our home and know it saves us money,” said Lesley Hastie, a resident of Huntsville, Ontario.

    “Heat pumps are an amazing technology that allow people to get their homes off of fossil fuels and save money while doing so,” said Jack Gibbons, chair of Ontario Clean Air Alliance. “People need to know that if they are about to install new heating and cooling equipment, they should go with a heat pump. But Enbridge is misleading these people and trying to lock in more Ontarians to gas. It’s shameful and should be brought to a stop.”

    “The health harms of having gas in the home are clear. The use of gas in the home contributes to the development of childhood asthma. The expansion of gas infrastructure also contributes to the climate crisis, which is the greatest health threat we face. Instead, we need to expand the use of clean electric heat pumps, which do not harm health” said Dr. Samantha Green, family physician and president-elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

    Background Information

    • For a long time, fossil gas was the cheapest way to heat homes and provide hot water. However, electric heat pumps are now the cheapest option.
    • Annual energy costs are far lower as heat pumps are approximately three times more efficient than gas furnaces (or five times for ground-source heat pumps, also known as geothermal). Getting off gas also saves the monthly “customer charge” levied by Enbridge for use of the gas system (e.g. saving a Torontonian $310 per year). Heat pumps also cool more efficiently than traditional air conditioners, resulting in electricity cost savings in the summer. And only heat pumps (not gas equipment) are eligible for up to $40,000 in interest-free federal green financing and up to $6,500 in rebates for eligible customers (or $10,000 for eligible customers switching from oil).
    • Heat pumps systems now work very well in Ontario’s cold climate – even in places as cold as Thunder Bay. Although it is always best to make homes more efficient regardless of the heating system you use, heat pumps are appropriate even for old and leaky homes. In fact, customers with old and leaky homes will save even more from heat pumps than the average customer because their heating needs and costs are higher to begin with.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Tamara Latinovic, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Environmental Defence Applauds Competition Bureau of Canada for Starting Investigation into Enbridge Gas for Misleading Advertising appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement from Environmental Defence on the Ontario Ministry of Energy’s Move to Reverse the OEB’s Decision on Gas Rates

    Two heat pumps installed outside a brick house

    Statement from Keith Brooks, Programs Director

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – It is shocking that the Ministry of Energy is moving to overrule the Ontario Energy Board, which made a very sound decision to save homeowners money by encouraging new homes to be built with heat pumps, rather than gas furnaces. The speed at which this decision was made by the Ministry is also concerning.

    The OEB decision would eliminate the subsidy for housing developers to connect to the gas system effective January 1, 2025. Currently, developers can receive a subsidy worth up to $6k per home, with an average of $4.5k per home. The OEB said eliminating this subsidy would encourage developers to install heat pumps instead, which will improve affordability by lowering heating costs while also reducing risks and costs for all other gas ratepayers. The OEB decision is a win-win for everyone but Enbridge, which stands to lose both customers and profits. The government’s planned legislation would accomplish the opposite – a huge win for Enbridge and a loss for all Ontarians.

    The OEB specifically found that developers opt to put in gas because they don’t have to pay for the gas pipes (because of the subsidy) or for the higher energy bills that home buyers pay from having gas instead of heat pumps.

    The government’s assertion that the OEB decision would halt the construction of homes is false. Developers can just forgo gas connections and install heat pumps instead, which would be “a win for homebuyers” in the OEB’s words. If the government wants to subsidize the cost of new homes even more, they should do that through a subsidy for green electricity infrastructure.

    The Minister’s support for subsidies for new fossil fuel infrastructure – a new gas pipeline – that has a 60-year lifetime is indicative of this government’s interest in fighting climate change.

    It is essential that new homes be built with decarbonization in mind, both to limit their contributions to climate change and to save homeowners the costs associated with retrofitting their home sometime in the future.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Carolyn Townend, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Statement from Environmental Defence on the Ontario Ministry of Energy’s Move to Reverse the OEB’s Decision on Gas Rates appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • ‘A Holiday Gift to the Planet’ – Statement from Environmental Defence and Équiterre on Canada’s Electric Vehicle Availability Standard 

    ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, ÉQUITERRE

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Environmental Defence and Équiterre applaud Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, for finalizing Canada’s Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, which will require automakers to gradually shift to 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales by 2035. This is a crucial policy that will help put Canada on the path to net zero emissions.

    “The Electric Vehicle Availability Standard is a holiday gift to the planet. Canada will now join the ranks of leading jurisdictions such as the European Union, California, Quebec and British Columbia, in phasing out the sale of new gasoline cars at the pace required by global net zero objectives. This regulation will also help address affordability challenges by ensuring that the budget electric vehicle (EV) models coming to market aren’t just available overseas, but are readily available in Canada too. Increasing overall zero-emission vehicle supply will cut order wait times, bring more affordable clean cars to the used vehicle market, and send a powerful signal to automakers to invest in research and development to lower electric vehicle prices. With significant taxpayer subsidies going to EV battery plants in Canada, this regulation ensures that Canadians will be the first in line to buy the cars we are paying to help make,” said Nate Wallace, Clean Transportation Program Manager, Environmental Defence.

    “Canada needs its own independent Electric Vehicle Availability Standard because we have more ambitious ZEV adoption targets than the United States. The flawed US tailpipe rules have encouraged automakers to shift vehicle sales to increasingly larger and heavier gasoline SUVs and trucks and have significantly undermined the emissions benefits from greater fuel economy. This regulation ensures that automakers take responsibility for their impact on the planet and gives everyone across Canada greater access to zero-emission vehicles, regardless of which province they live in,” said Anne-Catherine Pilon, Transportation and mobility analyst, Équiterre.

    Higher expectations

    Environmental Defence and Équiterre also acknowledge that there continues to be room for improvement. We continue to underline that ZEV sales targets could be higher in line with reference jurisdictions and the three-year grace period given to automakers before enforcement is too long. Given current market trends, Canada is already likely to sail past the 20 per cent ZEV sales target in 2026, and the new inclusion of ‘early action credits’ was completely unnecessary and serves only to weaken the regulation in the early years. We were encouraged by the added requirements for eligibility for ‘ZEV-related activities’ though would have preferred if this flexibility mechanism were eliminated entirely. We are also very encouraged that overall, core elements of the regulation were not weakened by the introduction of things such as credit multipliers.

    Looking to the future, we hope that this progress on zero-emission vehicles also leads to similar ambition in reducing emissions through shifting travel to public and active transportation. While this regulation will play an important role in accelerating the transition to electric vehicles, it is still important to remember that the decarbonization of the transportation sector must also focus on the importance of reducing the number and the size of vehicles on our roads.

    For more information:

    English: https://environmentaldefence.ca/report/briefing-zero-emission-vehicle-sales-regulation/

    French: https://www.equiterre.org/fr/ressources/315-pour-reellement-en-finir-avec-les-vehicules-a-essence

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    ABOUT ÉQUITERRE (equiterre.org): Équiterre seeks to make the necessary collective transitions toward an equitable and environmentally sound future more tangible, accessible, and inspiring. Since 1993, Équiterre has been helping to find solutions, transform social norms, and encourage ambitious public policies through research, support, education, mobilization, and awareness-building initiatives. This progress is helping to establish new principles for how we feed ourselves, how we get around, and how we produce and consume, that are designed for our communities, respectful of our ecosystems, in line with social justice, and of course, low in carbon.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    English: Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    French: Anthony Côté-Leduc, Équiterre, acoteleduc@equiterre.org

    The post ‘A Holiday Gift to the Planet’ – Statement from Environmental Defence and Équiterre on Canada’s Electric Vehicle Availability Standard  appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Media Advisory: Land Use Planning Lawyer Available to Comment Following Minotar Holdings Constitutional Challenge to the Restoration of Greenbelt Protection for its Lands

    Aerial photo of Dufferin Rouge Agricultural Preserve - the largest area removed from the Greenbelt by the Ontario government

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat – Phil Pothen, Environmental Defence’s Counsel and Land Development Manager, is available to provide insight following Minotar Holdings’ filing of an application for judicial review of the restoration of Greenbelt protection to its agricultural landholdings in Markham’s protected countryside.

    Background Information: 

    • The agricultural lands which are the subject of the application were among the 15 parcels stripped of Greenbelt protection in late 2022, despite the Ontario government’s express promise never to remove land from the Greenbelt.

    • Enshrining protection of current Greenbelt lands in statute, rather than allowing removals by regulation at the discretion of Cabinet, was necessary to restore the certainty of permanence which is vital to the Greenbelt’s functioning, and which was undermined by the Ontario government’s recent attack on the Greenbelt.

    • Experts warned land speculators from the start that the removal of land from the Greenbelt was inappropriate and would soon need to be returned, and it was reckless for Minotar to disregard those warnings.

    • Permitting Minotar to be compensated would create perverse incentives for real estate investors in future to use expenditures as a way to “lock in” inappropriate government giveaways.

    When: Friday, December 15, 2023

    Who: Phil Pothen – Counsel and Land Development Program Manager, Ontario Environment

    Where: Toronto, Ontario and available remotely

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Carolyn Townend, Environmental Defence
    media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Media Advisory: Land Use Planning Lawyer Available to Comment Following Minotar Holdings Constitutional Challenge to the Restoration of Greenbelt Protection for its Lands appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement on Automaker Lobbyists Slamming ZEV Sales Regulation Before It Has Been Released

    Statement by Nate Wallace, Clean Transportation Program Manager

    Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People –Canada is poised to soon join the ranks of leading jurisdictions, such as the European Union, California, Quebec and British Columbia, in phasing out the sale of new gasoline cars at the pace required by global net-zero objectives. This would represent following through with Canada’s COP26 commitment of transitioning to 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.

    The claims that Canada can meet its zero-emission vehicle adoption targets with only incentives and charging infrastructure are false and do not hold up to scrutiny. Environmental Defence’s most recent report proved that these policy tools alone will fail to meet ZEV adoption targets. The only way to ensure Canada stays on the path to net-zero emissions is by requiring automakers to bring clean cars to the Canadian market, rather than allowing us to fall behind jurisdictions with more ambitious climate policy.

    The Canadian auto industry receives significant taxpayer subsidies to build electric vehicle battery plants. In exchange, Canadians expect they will act in good faith in the fight against climate change. Regulating zero-emission vehicle supply is the only way to ensure Canadians are the first to access the zero-emission vehicles we are paying to help build. Automakers can’t have their cake and eat it too, they must transition to making 100 per cent zero-emissions vehicles by 2035 in line with Canada’s global climate commitments.

    Background info:

    • This briefing note outlines Environmental Defence’s expectations for the final regulations expected by the end of 2023.
    • Environmental Defence and Equiterre also published a report on “Modelling a Zero-Emission Vehicle Standard and Subsidies in Canada’s Light-Duty Vehicle Sector (2023-2035),” that found only a ZEV sales regulation is capable of achieving Canada’s ZEV sales targets.
    • The report highlights that even with a significant buildout of ZEV charging infrastructure, implementing the auto lobby recommendations of simply tripling existing ZEV purchase incentives instead of introducing a ZEV sales regulation would fail to meet sales targets and result in only 65% ZEV market share by 2035.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Paula Gray, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Statement on Automaker Lobbyists Slamming ZEV Sales Regulation Before It Has Been Released appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement on Imperial Oil CEO Brad Corson’s Refusal to Accept Accountability for Massive Toxic Tailings Leak

    Statement by Emilia Belliveau, Energy Transition Program Manager

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – At today’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development (ENVI) hearings, Imperial Oil’s CEO, Brad Corson, refused to accept full responsibility for the tailings leak, underscoring the failure of oil companies to protect communities and the environment from their toxic waste.

    While Corson attempts to downplay the tailings leak as a “communications” issue, in reality, this was an environmental disaster and a gross betrayal of the local Indigenous communities’ trust. As the highest-paid oil CEO in Canada, Corson’s apologies ring hollow as he continues to neglect human and environmental health in order to maximize profits. Evidence has shown that tailings ponds release toxic and potentially cancer-causing chemicals into the environment, and nearby communities experience record-high rates of rare cancers. Despite the clear negative health impacts, Corson continues to avoid responsibility for billions of litres of toxic waste stored in tailings ponds that were designed to leak.

    The Imperial Oil disaster exemplifies the urgent need for oil companies to clean up the 1.4 trillion litres of toxic waste before further harm comes to Indigenous communities and the environment. It is imperative that oil companies bear responsibility for fixing the enormous problem they have created.

    We applaud the members of the Environment Committee for carefully scrutinizing the data, reviewing evidence that demonstrates the harm and ongoing risk of Imperial’s tailings, and asking critical questions — many of which remain unanswered. We stand in solidarity with the impacted nations in calling on the federal government and the government of Alberta to put a stop to the destruction in the tar sands and hold oil companies accountable for cleaning up their toxic waste.

    Background info:

    • Today, Imperial Oil’s CEO Brad Corson was questioned by the Parliamentary Environment Committee for a second time about the tailings pond leak at their Kearl facility that resulted in 5.3 million litres of toxic tailings spilling into the environment.
    • The company failed to inform nearby Indigenous Nations of ongoing tailings leakage for nine months, leaving them unaware of the risks of consuming water and game harvested in the area.
    • During the hearings, Corson was questioned about water contamination, adverse health impacts to the nearby communities, what procedures and protections they had implemented since the spill, the known placement of their tailings ponds in a highly sensitive and permeable wetland area, and the fact that leakage was a feature of these types of tailings ponds.
    • Members of Parliament refuted Mr. Corson’s assertion that waterways were not affected by the spill, referencing reports of water quality monitoring with elevated levels of arsenic, iron, sulphates, and aluminum.
    • Brad Corson, was the highest-paid energy CEO in Canada in 2022 and has spent his entire career extracting and marketing oil and gas, working mostly for Imperial Oil and its parent company ExxonMobil.
    • Since 2009, Imperial Oil has reported 10 significant incidents of spills, leaks, and uncontrolled flaring events of tailings, gas, contaminated wastewater, hydrogen sulphide gas, and other toxic chemicals.
    • The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) was brought before the committee for questioning in November 2023, where they refused to admit any wrongdoing.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Paula Gray, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Statement on Imperial Oil CEO Brad Corson’s Refusal to Accept Accountability for Massive Toxic Tailings Leak appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement From Ashley Wallis, Associate Director: Preservation of the Beer Store’s Recycling and Reuse Program Should Prompt Complementary Deposit Return System for All Other Beverage Containers

    Ontario’s blue bin system is failing to keep non-alcoholic beverage containers out of landfills and the environment

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – We are relieved to learn that The Beer Store’s successful reuse and recycling program will be preserved. The existing deposit return program keeps hundreds of millions of reusable glass beer bottles in circulation, and even more cans and plastic containers out of landfills and the environment.

    The preservation of this successful program indicates that the province recognizes its value. It is only logical that it would also see the value of a complementary deposit program for non-alcoholic beverage containers. The current blue bin recycling system is failing: only 43 per cent of non-alcoholic beverage containers are collected and recycled in Ontario. Meanwhile, the Beer Store’s successful deposit-return program collects nearly 80 per cent of beer containers and packaging. There’s no good reason not to require this best-in-class approach for the estimated 3.5 billion pop, juice and other non-alcoholic beverage containers sold in Ontario every year.

    It’s long past time to address the abysmal state of recycling in this province. We urge Premier Ford and his government to show leadership and require deposit return for all beverage containers.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Lauren Thomas, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Statement From Ashley Wallis, Associate Director: Preservation of the Beer Store’s Recycling and Reuse Program Should Prompt Complementary Deposit Return System for All Other Beverage Containers appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Response to COP28 Final Outcome

    Dubai, UAE – The final outcome from COP28, dubbed the UAE Consensus, was adopted this morning. The final text calls on countries to “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade” and to “tripling renewable energy capacity globally and double the global average of annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.”

    The COP28 outcome sends an important signal about the future of fossil fuels.  After 30 years of international negotiations failing to mention the root cause of the climate crisis, the acknowledgement that we must phase out all fossil fuels in order to effectively tackle the climate crisis is both long overdue and extremely significant.

    However, civil society came to Dubai with a unified ask: a fast, fair, full and funded phase out of all fossil fuels. The COP outcome doesn’t match the level of ambition demanded by the climate movement, by climate vulnerable countries or by science. Nor does it reflect the calls from over 127 countries who were also pushing for a fossil fuel phase-out. The Alliance of Small Islands States put it plainly: “It is not enough to reference the science and then fail to take the action that science would require us to take.”   

    Furthermore, the outcome of COP28 falls short on equity on two important fronts. Developed and developing countries cannot be expected to move at the same pace and scale when it comes to transitioning their economy off of fossil fuels. Wealthy countries like Canada and the United States, who have long benefitted from an oil and gas sector and are less reliant on the sector today, must move first and fastest on phasing out fossil fuels, with progress made this decade. Furthermore, developing countries have been clear on their needs: financial support to address mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage. On both fronts, Canada and other Global North countries have failed the global community.

    The influence that oil and gas industry representatives, present in record numbers, had on negotiations at COP28 is evident; this is a major conflict of interest. There are dangerous loopholes in this final text – including for carbon capture, hydrogen, petrochemicals and transition fuels – that risk undermining the important progress that has been made. These dangerous distractions only serve the short-term interests of oil and gas companies, they do not align with climate science. The UNFCCC must adopt a conflict of interest policy. 

    Quotes:

    Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate

    “For the first time ever, countries around the world have collectively agreed on the need to leave oil, gas and coal in the ground and massively accelerate the build out of renewable energy and energy savings – this decade. There can be no mistake: the era of fossil fuels is quickly coming to an end. 

    Wealthy countries like Canada and the United States – who have an overwhelming responsibility to phase out fossil fuels first and fastest – have failed the global community by refusing to provide the financial support needed from developing countries in order to transition their economies away from fossil fuels, adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis and address the losses and damages being experienced. Rebuilding trust will require wealthy countries to start paying up so that no one is left behind.  

    Furthermore, the hypocrisy on display from Canada and other countries must end. Canada and just four other countries are responsible for over half of the planned expansion of oil and gas production. Allowing that expansion to go ahead is a death sentence for millions around the world.  

    The record number of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP28 was a desperate attempt of a sunsetting industry to once again sabotage climate progress. Although they were not successful, their fingerprints are very clear. The outcome includes too many loopholes for dangerous distractions, like petrochemicals and carbon capture. These are not climate solutions, they are licenses to pollute and must be challenged. 

    The momentum behind a fair, fast, full and funded fossil fuel phase – which is being led by climate vulnerable nations, frontline and Indigenous leaders and the climate movement – is unstoppable. We will bring this momentum back to Canada, where political leaders are still failing to have the same honest conversations about the need to phase out fossil fuels.” 

    Aliénor Rougeot, Program Manager, Climate and Energy, Environmental Defence Canada

    “Ensuring a just transition is non-negotiable if we are to phase out fossil fuels and build a clean economy at the pace and scale required to avoid the worst of the climate crisis. Countries must prioritize the well-being of workers and communities impacted by the transition, from those economically reliant on polluting sectors to those whose communities and homes are impacted by industrial projects. 

    That is why we welcome the creation of a Just Transition Work Program (JTWP) at COP28, which creates a dedicated space for countries to support one another in tackling the challenge. The program rightfully affirms the importance of human, Indigenous and labour rights in the transition, as well as the need for both unique domestic transition plans and international cooperation. Countries however failed to make this program a space for decision-making, instead choosing to set up another talk shop. This shortcoming will adversely impact the workers, Indigenous nations, local governments and communities who need tangible support, not more promises.” 

    Julie Segal, Senior Manager, Climate Finance, Environmental Defence Canada

    “To deliver on the trajectory of action needed, wealthy countries like Canada need to fund a global transition off fossil fuels, support communities who are affected by climate-related loss and damages, and provide money for vulnerable countries to build their resilience through adaptation. While we have to reduce emissions by nearly 50 per cent during this decade to keep the planet livable, we are on track to reduce them by only 5 per cent. This COP started with a historic launch of a fund for climate-related loss and damages, but the sums remain too small. The current paradigm is simple: whether wealthy countries provide financing to vulnerable ones will make or break global climate action.”

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Response to COP28 Final Outcome appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Environmental Groups Celebrate End of Hamilton Boundary Case

    New law makes good on Ontario government promise to end attack that forced city to sprawl

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Ecojustice and Environmental Defence are celebrating the end of their case against the Ontario government for unilaterally imposing an expansion to Hamilton’s urban boundary. 

    Last week, the Ontario Legislature passed the Planning Statute Law Amendment Act (Bill 150), reversing the reckless and counterproductive changes to Hamilton settlement boundaries that were the subject of the litigation.

    On November 4, 2022, the province announced it was changing Hamilton’s Official Plan by stripping out provisions designed to deliver desperately needed housing in existing neighbourhoods. Instead, the province forced a 2,200 hectare outward expansion of the city’s boundary into farmland and wild spaces.

    This move caused palpable anger among city councillors, housing activists, planners, environmental advocates and residents about the provincial government’s imposition of further sprawl upon the City of Hamilton, which had decided to accommodate its future growth by densifying its existing neighbourhoods and settlement areas.

    In January 2023, Environmental Defence, represented by Ecojustice, announced that it was seeking a judicial review of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s imposed changes to Hamilton’s Official Plan.

    These forced changes formed part of a wider attempt by the Ontario government to divert the province’s scarce construction capacity — desperately needed for compact infill housing — into the inefficient “greenfield” sprawl championed by a small, wealthy and politically influential subset of the development industry. That suite of changes, which also included the removal of key parts of the Greenbelt, resulted in the resignation of two government ministers and several political staff, an official rebuke from the province’s Auditor General and Integrity and Privacy Commissioner and an ongoing criminal investigation by the RCMP.  

    While the Greenbelt removals were also reversed last week, other aspects, like the proposed Highway 413 scheme, the gutting of wetland protections and the proposed dismantling of land-efficiency rules altogether, have yet to be officially abandoned. 

    Freedom of Information requests filed by Ecojustice on behalf of Environmental Defence showed that it was partisan Minister’s Office staff — not civil service experts — who directed changes to municipal Official Plans in ways that favoured select rural landlords and sprawl developers.

    In October 2023 — days before the government was forced to disclose documents to Ecojustice and Environmental Defence showing how developers were able to influence these decisions — the Ontario government announced that it was reversing its changes to the Official Plans of municipalities and forced expansion of urban boundaries across the province. Bill 150, which follows through on this announcement has now passed into law. In the weeks that followed, Hamilton City Council confirmed that it wanted to maintain its urban boundary.

    In light of Ontario’s reversal, now enshrined in legislation, the case against Ontario is no longer required. Ecojustice, representing its client, Environmental Defence, is withdrawing the case.

    Laura Bowman, Ecojustice lawyer, said:
    “The proposed expansion of Hamilton’s urban area would have caused irreversible damage by allowing inefficient, costly, car-dependent sprawl in sensitive areas.

    “There was never a realistic possibility that un-serviced development approvals, on the fringes of urban areas, could provide fast, affordable housing.”

    “The Ontario government’s reversal, and the admission of Minister Calandra that the process was flawed, is a vindication of our client’s position that the forced expansion of Hamilton’s boundary was unreasonable.”

    Phil Pothen, Land Use and Land Development Program Manager with Environmental Defence, said:
    “The Legislature’s reversal of this government’s forced boundary expansion in Hamilton is a victory for the overwhelming majority of Hamilton residents, who united around a vision for the future that rejects NIMBYism and environmentally-destructive sprawl, and embraces the social and environmental benefits of density and change in existing neighborhoods.  

    “However, there’s still a long way for the government to go. Now that Ontarians, and Golden Horseshoe residents in particular, understand that more low-density sprawl means fewer and more expensive homes overall, the only viable path for this government is to reverse course on the rest of its approach to land use. That starts with cancelling the Highway 413 scheme, abandoning plans to repeal the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and overhauling development rules so as to focus construction on existing build up areas and the most land-efficient and low-cost housing types.”

    ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    ECOJUSTICE uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change, and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions and law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Carolyn Townend, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    Sean O’Shea, Ecojustice, soshea@ecojustice.ca

     

    The post Environmental Groups Celebrate End of Hamilton Boundary Case appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement on the IESO’s Proposed Clean Electricity Supply for Ontario

    Statement by Keith Brooks, Programs Director

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat –  We are very happy to see the Independent Electricity System Operator’s (IESO) proposal to procure 5,000 megawatts (MW) of non-emitting renewable electricity in the coming years. Clean renewable electricity – such as wind and solar power – is the lowest cost source of new electricity supply. Clean electricity is absolutely integral to efforts to decarbonize the economy and fight climate change. And it is a competitive advantage for the province. It’s good to see Ontario working to bolster, rather than undermine, the province’s “Clean Energy Advantage.”

    Environmental Defence is committed to engaging with the IESO, and with municipalities and Ontarians more broadly, to work to find suitable sites for these renewable power projects and ensure that they find support from municipal governments and neighbours alike. Clean power projects can find local support, but the process of community engagement and details on how the benefits are shared need to be carefully considered.

    We call on Ontario to abandon the gas procurement currently underway. Ontario doesn’t need new gas-fired electricity, which will make the province’s electricity supply more polluting. These gas plants that the IESO is seeking to procure will come at great expense though they will be effectively shut down in 2035, just seven years after they are to come online, due to the forthcoming federal Clean Electricity Regulations. Ontario ratepayers will save billions of dollars if the IESO shelves this procurement now, before offering any more contracts. The IESO’s Resource Adequacy Update clearly shows that polluting gas-fired turbines are more expensive than clean wind power and ground mounted solar.

    ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

     

    The post Statement on the IESO’s Proposed Clean Electricity Supply for Ontario appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Response to COP28 Draft Outcome

    Statement by Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate

    Dubai, UAE – The most important outcome from COP28 will be the final Global Stocktake (GST) text. The GST will set out the most important commitments and pledges made by governments during the negotiations, therefore sending an important political signal. The final text will also provide a blueprint on which countries develop their next round of targets. Earlier this evening, the COP Presidency released the latest version of the draft GST text. 

    Environmental Defence is extremely disappointed with the language in the GST text. The commitments have been significantly watered down from the previous version, on several fronts. Environmental Defence urges the Government of Canada to push for more ambitious action in the final text, expected to come out on December 12th. 

    “The draft text is unacceptable. We are calling on the Government of Canada to use their political muscle to push for what is truly needed: a fair, fast and funded phase out of all fossil fuels – without any dangerous loopholes. That outcome will only be achieved if Canada and other wealthy countries finally take responsibility for their oversized contributions to the climate crisis by providing financial support and assistance to developing countries, to ensure no one is left behind in the energy transition. The science does not compromise: we must leave oil, coal and gas in the ground.” 

    A Fossil Fuel Phaseout

    The litmus test for COP28 is whether it will deliver a full, fast, fair and fully funded fossil fuel phase out. Not only is this what the science dictates as necessary to ensure global heating does not exceed 1.5 degrees, but the momentum behind a fossil fuel phaseout has never been greater. In fact over 100 countries have been calling for it over the past two weeks, including the Government of Canada.

    Whereas a previous version of the GST text included language on the need to phase out fossils in alignment with science, the latest draft text only includes a call to reduce the consumption and production of fossil fuels. (Reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050.) 

    The final GST text must include a commitment to phasing out all fossil fuels, with wealthy countries required to demonstrate progress this decade. 

    Dangerous Distractions

    The draft GST text contains too many references to dangerous distractions, including carbon capture and hydrogen. Carbon capture and hydrogen are being promoted by oil and gas executives in order to prolong our dependence on fossil fuels. But they are ineffective, unnecessary and risky. Abatement is not a solution, it’s a license to pollute. All references to false solutions, including carbon capture and hydrogen, must be removed.

    Ensuring Equity 

    Developed and developing countries cannot be expected to move at the same pace and scale when it comes to transitioning their economy off of fossil fuels. Wealthy countries like Canada, who have long benefitted from an oil and gas sector and are less reliant on the sector today, must lead the energy transition. This includes quickly phasing out their own fossil fuel production first, as well as providing the financial and technical support that is needed by developing countries to transition their own economies.

    Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies 

    Canada and other G20 countries first committed to ending inefficient fossil fuel subsidies back in 2009. Since then, the word inefficient, which has no agreed upon definition, has been used to justify ongoing and even new fossil fuel subsidies, as governments deem these ‘efficient’. It is time to drop the weasel word. Countries must agree to end all fossil fuel subsidies, without delay. 

    Ensuring a Just Transition

    Countries came to COP28 with the mission to create a work program on just transition, to tackle the social and economic impacts of climate action. Yet the latest draft of the GST text only has a placeholder for future just transition language. Parties must rapidly agree to a just transition work programme that is inclusive of human, Indigenous and labour rights, and delivers actionable decisions such as input to the next round of domestic climate plans. Failing to deliver on just transition will hinder the world’s ability to ramp up climate action.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Response to COP28 Draft Outcome appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • At COP28, Canada signs on to Joint Ministerial Statement on Fossil Fuel Subsidies 

    Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate

    Dubai, UAE – Today at COP28 Canada joined eight other countries in signing a Joint Ministerial Statement on Fossil Fuel Subsidies, to address inaction on a 14 year old commitment to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. 

    “Canada and its allies have been talking about the need to end fossil fuel subsidies for 14 years. How much longer will we have to keep putting up with empty promises, while our governments continue to funnel tens of billions of public dollars towards the wealthy oil and gas companies whose activities are fueling climate breakdown? Communities across Canada, already devastated by this year’s climate disasters, cannot afford to wait another year.

    COP28 must deliver on energy and equity. Countries must agree to phase out fossil fuels, and wealthy countries like Canada must pay their fair share. Canada cannot just end fossil fuel subsidies: the government must redirect that money to address the needs of the Global South as countries transition off of fossil fuels.”

    The statement commits countries to increased transparency by publishing inventories which include both direct and indirect subsidies – something Canada has still not done. It also commits countries to developing national strategies for eliminating this support with accelerated timelines and investing in clean growth aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Signatories will set up an international dialogue which will be held yearly at COP meetings.

    The Government of Canada has made progress in eliminating some fossil fuel subsidies and international public financing. However, the majority of the financial support provided by the government is in the form of public financing to domestic oil and gas companies. Despite committing to end this support in 2021, the Government of Canada has made no progress, other than a far off promise to develop a plan a year from now.   

    Background Information:

    • Other signatories include the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Spain, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria and France.
    • Last year, the Government of Canada provided over CAD $20 billion in public financing to oil and gas companies, much of it to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. So far this year the Government of Canada has provided nearly CAD $13 billion in subsidies and other financial supports to oil and gas companies in Canada. 
    • The Government of Canada ended most international public financing provided by Export Development Canada in December 2022. The federal government also introduced new rules ending inefficient fossil fuel subsidies in July 2023. However the majority of the financial support provided by the Government of Canada is in the form of public financing for domestic oil and gas projects, provided through Export Development Canada. Though the Government of Canada has made a commitment to end this public financing, the timeline – fall 2024 – is not ambitious enough.
    • Last week at COP28 Export Development Canada helped launch a new Net Zero Export Credit Agencies Alliances. 
    • Earlier this month Minister Freeland violated the government’s own rules by introducing a loophole into the carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) investment tax credit which will result in subsidies for projects that expand oil and gas production, which is incompatible with achieving climate stabilization. 

     – 30 –

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post At COP28, Canada signs on to Joint Ministerial Statement on Fossil Fuel Subsidies  appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement on Canada’s Long-Awaited Oil and Gas Emissions Cap Framework

    Suncor oil sands tailings ponds

    Statement by Aly Hyder Ali, Oil and Gas Program Manager

    Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – We applaud the Government of Canada for releasing the much awaited framework on the oil and gas emissions cap. However, having a framework is not the same as having final rules in place, which need to be implemented as soon as possible. We urge the federal government to move swiftly and release the draft regulations in the coming months, at the latest by February 2024. We cannot afford any more delays.

    Without a strong cap on oil and gas emissions, Canada will miss its climate targets. The oil and gas industry, Canada’s largest and fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions, has repeatedly shown its unwillingness to voluntarily reduce its own emissions. The industry, which has made record breaking profits in recent years while fueling the climate crisis, is well positioned to pull its weight, but will not do so without strict regulatory oversight.

    Although the framework marks an important milestone for the federal government’s climate plan, and makes Canada the first national jurisdiction that is working to implement an emissions cap to limit oil and gas pollution, it is far from perfect. The design of the rules must be strengthened:

    • The framework’s current 2030 target does not actually force the oil and gas industry to do its proportionate share to reduce emissions. This is deeply unfair to other industries that have already made impressive emissions reductions, while oil and gas companies have just kept polluting. For the target to ensure oil and gas companies are doing their part, it must increase to at least align with Canada’s national emissions reduction target, which is a 40–45 per cent reduction from 2005 levels by 2030. The International Energy Agency wants governments to go further, and has called for emissions from oil and gas companies to decline by 60 per cent by 2030 to keep global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees.

    • The inclusion of offsets and free allocations in the framework is also concerning. Emissions reductions must come from oil and gas companies, not purchased from projects elsewhere. The government should not distribute free allocations. Instead, emissions allowances should be auctioned off, with the revenues generated being used by the government to fund climate solutions in other sectors. The federal government must ensure that oil and gas companies are not allowed to use these flexibilities as loopholes to shirk their responsibilities.

    • We are also concerned that the proposed decarbonization fund will allow companies credit for speculative reductions from future technologies or will be used as a compensation mechanism to reward the oil and gas industry for meeting its responsibilities. This fund should not replace actual emissions reductions.

    The emissions cap framework will likely be attacked by oil and gas companies and some provincial governments, including Alberta. The framework as proposed is already a compromise. The alarmism from the oil and gas industry and provincial governments cannot be used to further weaken the emissions cap before it is implemented. The federal government must stand firm in the face of the unreasonable opposition it will inevitably receive.

    For example, the Government of Alberta has demonstrated time and time again that it puts polluter profits ahead of any effort to reduce fossil fuel pollution. It is because of its failure to protect Albertans and Canadians that the federal government is forced to step in with an oil and gas emissions cap.

    With COP28 still underway in Dubai, this emissions cap framework sends a strong signal that the federal government is serious about holding the oil and gas industry accountable for its ever increasing pollution. However, to be fully aligned with Canada’s climate commitments, the federal government must strengthen these rules and bring the regulations into force as soon as possible. A long delay between the framework and draft regulations will only allow oil and gas companies to continue polluting, increase the chances of further climate catastrophes and further reduce Canada’s chances of meeting its climate targets.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca, 416-356-2587

     

    The post Statement on Canada’s Long-Awaited Oil and Gas Emissions Cap Framework appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Protestors disrupt greenwashing by oil and gas industry & Alberta at COP28

    New data on Pathways profits & climate track record 

    Dubai, UAE – At COP28 members of civil society walked out of a Pathways Alliance event, in protest of the presence of these Big Polluters at COP28. The event was hosted at the Clean Resource Innovation Network pavilion. The event was initially scheduled as a panel discussion between the President of the Pathways Alliance, Kendal Dilling, Alberta’s Minister of Environment and others. However, at the last minute the organizers tried to back down and switch to an informal networking event. Members of civil society present in the room in overwhelming numbers pushed back. After a short question and answer in which Dilling did not adequately address the concerns and questions being raised, civil society walked out in protest.  

    Alongside today’s activities, Environmental Defence Canada is also releasing new research on the Pathways Alliance, a coalition of the six largest tar sands companies in Canada. The key findings are:

    • The investments of the Pathways Alliance members remain overwhelmingly concentrated on oil and gas and are not aligned with Paris Agreement goals. Over the last four years (2019-2022), they collectively invested at least CAD $47.3 billion (USD $34 billion) in their fossil fuel operations.
    • Five of these companies recorded pre-tax profits of over CAD $45 billion (USD $33 billion) in 2022, more than double their profits in 2021 and four times their profits in 2019 (pre-pandemic). A 10 per cent windfall tax could have generated CAD $4.5 billion in the last year from these five companies alone. 
    • The Pathways Alliance claims that member companies have spent CAD $1.8 billion on phase one projects related to its proposed carbon capture network. This spending amounts to less than 4 per cent of the combined profits of five of six Pathways Alliance members. 

    Leading civil society and Indigenous organizations from Canada and around the world, some of which were involved in today’s actions, respond to the presence of the Pathways Alliance and other fossil fuel lobbyists at COP28:

    Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate, Environmental Defence Canada

    “It is obvious that the Pathways Alliance and the Government of Alberta are not at COP28 in good faith. Today, they tried to run away from civil society, rather than be held accountable for the ways in which they are continuing to prioritize profits over achieving climate outcomes. It is obvious that fossil fuel lobbyists realize that the writing is on the wall, and they are trying everything in their power to delay the inevitable outcome: a phase out of fossil fuel production.” 

    Emily Lowan, Fossil Fuel Supply Campaigns Lead, Climate Action Network Canada

    “The Pathways Alliance is here in a desperate attempt to distract from the issue at the heart of these talks — a fair phase-out of fossil fuels. The Pathways companies would rather hide behind greenwashed PR buys than use their record profits to invest in the real solutions, like a just transition for workers and scaling up of renewables. It’s a bait-and-switch and the international community isn’t buying it.”

    Carole Monture, Indigenous Climate Action

    “We cannot allow the business interests of polluters to shape false narratives at COP28 or at home. Carbon market mechanisms, like those being pushed by industry and government, depend on growing emissions from fossil fuel use. If there is no fossil fuel pollution there is no need for carbon market mechanisms. We cannot allow carbon markets and false solutions to continue to dominate the conversation and to delay real action. Real solutions rooted in Indigenous knowledge, justice, and self-determination.”

    Joe Viipond, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

    “It’s painful to be at a climate conference, at a time when the urgency for rapid decarbonization is more evident than ever, and have the Canadian oil and gas industry being so overt in their greenwashing efforts. Framing climate action in Western Canada as essentially only CCS, with no discussion of the immense emissions from combustion, and the experimental and costly (financially and energy)nature of the  technology, is dishonest. We need to acknowledge that the only path to saving our climate from irreversible damage is a phase out of all fossil fuels, as quickly as possible.”

    Nils Bartsch, Head of Oil & Gas Research, Urgewald

    ”Oil from Alberta’s tar sands is among the dirtiest fossil fuels on Earth. The extraction process involves destroying ancient boreal forests, blasting away topsoil, drilling deep into the ground and injecting steam to force the oil out – with devastating consequences for the local habitat. Instead of hiding behind false solutions like carbon capture and storage, companies in the Pathways Alliance and the Canadian government need to immediately stop tar sands extraction because the harms it does to indigenous communities, to nature, and to the climate are simply too grave to bear.“

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Protestors disrupt greenwashing by oil and gas industry & Alberta at COP28 appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Indigenous Nations and Environmental Advocates Denounce Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s Greenwashing at COP28

    ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION

    Indigenous nations impacted by pollution in the tar sands counter the Government of Alberta’s COP28 narrative of being a “clean energy leader”

    Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Today, members from Indigenous communities downstream of the tar sands and environmental advocates held a demonstration in response to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s presence at COP28. 

    “Time and time again we have been told to trust that the Alberta Government and that government and industry have our best interests in mind,” shares Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action and member of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. “Not only do they continually fail to protect our lands and honour our rights, but they actively put all of the people of Alberta at risk by undermining a just and equitable transition within our province. It’s always profits before people in the tar sands and it’s our communities that pay the ultimate price.”

    This year in the tar sands region, a major toxic tailings leak, which was covered up for nine months, made international headlines. However, the Alberta Energy Regulator absolved itself of any responsibility and conducted an ‘independent’ inquiry which reduced the concerns being raised to a communications issue rather than a failure to uphold their duty to Indigenous peoples. 

    Impacted Indigenous nations and environmental groups are holding governments accountable for permitting toxic waste to accumulate in the air, lands, and waters. They are also calling for the dismantling of the Alberta Energy Regulator.

    “The Government of Alberta is on a greenwashing tour at COP28. Premier Smith is attending COP28 to sing the praises of the fossil fuel industry. Yet she continues to turn a blind eye to the active seepage of toxic tailings into Indigenous communities’ lands and waters, including the recent Imperial Oil spill and cover-up,” said Aliénor Rougeot, Climate and Energy Program Manager at Environmental Defence. 

    “The system is broken. It has been since industry arrived more than half a century ago. The regulator, meant to protect our people and our lands, has instead prioritized unchecked and rampant industrial growth. Project after project continues to be approved at the expense of our constitutionally protected Treaty rights. Stop the regulatory capture, and work with us, instead of against us, to save Mother Earth.” says Brian Fung, Manager Government Relations, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

    Photo credit: Environmental Defence Canada

    Background information:

    • Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine has not successfully stopped the seepage of its tailings pond into the Athabasca watershed. 
    • Local Indigenous communities, the federal government, and the public were not informed of the leak until a separate incident spilled an additional 5.3 million litres of wastewater into the environment. 
    • The tar sands’ tailings “ponds” now contain over 1.4 trillion litres of waste, covering an area more than 2.6 times the size of Vancouver.
    • The oil industry’s solution to the toxic tailings issue is releasing industrial wastewater into the Athabasca River after minimal and unproven treatment. The Athabasca River is impacted gravely by overuse and contaminated by the large volume of discharges that occur annually. Being downstream from the industry’s extractive operations, Fort Chipewyan is one of several communities in the Athabasca Region through which toxins pass.
    • For more information about tar sands tailings “ponds” please see this fact sheet.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    About INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTION (indigenousclimateaction.com) Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) is an Indigenous-led climate justice organization guided by a diverse group of Indigenous knowledge keepers, water protectors and land defenders from communities and regions across so-called Canada.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Paula Gray, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    Rosalyn Boucha, Indigenous Climate Action, media@indigenousclimateaction.com

    The post Indigenous Nations and Environmental Advocates Denounce Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s Greenwashing at COP28 appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Statement on Canada’s Draft Oil and Gas Methane Regulations Amendments

    Statement by Keith Brooks, Programs Director, Environmental Defence

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – We applaud Canada for introducing these methane regulations amendments and following up on the commitment to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 75 per cent by 2030. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, making methane reductions absolutely necessary in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Methane reductions are also relatively simple to achieve and low in cost.

    These regulations will position Canada as a leader on reducing methane pollution, but Canada should be striving for virtual elimination of methane emissions. The commitment of $30 million for a Centre of Excellence on methane detection and elimination must help ensure that oil and gas companies are doing everything possible to eliminate leaks and avoid any venting and flaring. The oil and gas industry chronically underreports methane emissions. This needs to come to a stop. Strong oversight will be critical to achieving this goal.

    We urge the government to finalize and bring these regulations into force as quickly as possible. Canada also needs to move forward with other regulations targeting emissions from the oil and gas sector, such as the emissions cap. Oil and gas continues to be the largest and fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in this country. Emissions growth from oil and gas is wiping out gains made in other parts of the economy. Canada will continue to fail to meet our climate targets unless we rein in emissions from oil and gas.

    We also urge Canada to be supportive of the efforts to reference a fossil fuel phase out in the final text for COP 28. Eliminating methane is essential, but winding down production is the only way to address all the emissions from oil and gas, given that the vast majority of emissions occur when the fuel is burned.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact: Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Statement on Canada’s Draft Oil and Gas Methane Regulations Amendments appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • At COP28, Export Development Canada joins Net Zero Alliance Despite Fossil Financing

    Statement by Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate

    Dubai, UAE – Today at COP28, Export Development Canada (EDC) joined four other export credit agencies to launch the Net-Zero Export Credit Agencies Alliances (NZECA). NZECA is an alliance of international public finance institutions committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. NZECA members are committing to ensure all of their financing activities are aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees and publishing greenhouse gas emissions data annually. However, EDC continues to provide public financing to oil and gas companies. In 2022, EDC provided around CAD $20 billion in public financing to oil and gas companies (which includes $12  billion for the Trans Mountain Expansion, or TMX, pipeline). So far this year, they have provided around CAD $12 billion (which includes $6  billion in loans for the TMX pipeline). 

    “Crown corporation Export Development Canada has no place in a net zero alliance. Canada’s export credit agency continues to provide tens of billions each year to oil and gas companies, using publicly-back money to finance the companies and the activities that are fueling the climate crisis. Years of climate promises, including their own net zero commitment, have not made a difference. The Government of Canada must move quickly ahead with new rules to stop all fossil financing. Communities across Canada, already devastated by this year’s climate disasters, cannot afford to wait another year.” 

    Key Information:

    • NZECA commits export credit agencies to: 
      • Ensure all the activities they are financing – through guarantees, lending portfolios and other business activities – align with pathways to net-zero by mid-century, or sooner, consistent with a maximum temperature rise of 1.5°C. This includes the full life cycle emissions of the projects they are financing, therefore would include downstream or Scope 3 emissions for oil, gas or coal projects
      • Set and publicly disclose intermediate science-based targets for 2030 or sooner for the highest emitting sectors in their portfolios
      • End new direct support for the fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2024
    • The alliance currently includes UKEF, Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), Export Development Canada (EDC), and the Swedish National Export Credits Guarantee Board and Swedish Export Credit Corporation (EKN and SEK) as full members. ECAs from the UAE, Kazakhstan and Spain have also joined the Alliance as affiliates. Combined, these ECAs supported an estimated US$120 billion in global trade in 2022 alone.
    • In December 2022, the Government of Canada committed to ending public financing for international oil and gas companies provided by Export Development Canada. In July 2023, the federal government also introduced new rules ending inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. However, the majority of the financial support provided by the Government of Canada is in the form of public financing for domestic oil and gas projects, provided through Export Development Canada. The government has committed to phasing this out by Fall 2024.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post At COP28, Export Development Canada joins Net Zero Alliance Despite Fossil Financing appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Canada’s Delegation to COP28 includes more fossil fuel lobbyists than ever

    Statement from Julia Levin, Associate Director, National Climate

    Dubai, UAE – Fossil fuel lobbyists are swarming COP28 this year, including Canada’s official delegation. According to the UN’s Provisional List of Registered Participants at COP28, 35 people with ties to the fossil fuel sector were given Party badges by Canada. Last year there were eight people with ties to the fossil fuel industry included in Canada’s list of badge holders. 

    “The fossil fuel industry knows that their time is up. As the head of the International Energy Agency has put it, we are approaching the end of the fossil fuel era. For the first time, the key issue at these climate talks is agreeing upon an approach to phase out the production of fossil fuels. So it is not surprising that fossil fuel executives are swarming COP28, in an effort to sabotage progress and peddle their dangerous distractions, like carbon capture and hydrogen. However, it is irresponsible for governments to include these climate villains in their official delegations. That is why we are so disappointed that the Government of Canada has included at least 35 people with ties to the fossil fuel industry in their official delegation, therefore providing access to COP28.” 

    The Government of Canada issued party badges to:

    • 18 employees of oil and gas companies. This includes representatives from Cenovus Energy, Enbridge, Imperial Oil, Suncor and five members of the Pathways Alliance, a coalition of the largest tar sands companies in Canada. 
    • Six people from groups affiliated with the oil and gas industry, such as Energy for a Secure Future, which runs massive advertising campaigns in Ottawa promoting fossil exports.  
    • 11 people from companies selling false solutions, such as carbon capture and fossil hydrogen. This includes two employees of Air Products, a company which received a massive $300 million subsidy from the federal government for their blue hydrogen project.
    • Other oil and gas lobbyists are attending COP as observers, such as the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, as well as 28 members of the Clean Resource Innovation Network, which serves to promote oil and gas greenwashing and even have their own Pavillion at the conference. 

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

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  • Statement on Michigan Public Service Commission’s Decision to Approve Dangerous Line 5 Tunnel Project

    Statement from Michelle Woodhouse, Water Program Manager, Environmental Defence

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – We are dismayed by the Michigan Public Service Commission’s decision today to grant Enbridge a permit to construct a dangerous oil pipeline tunnel underneath the ecologically sensitive Straits of Mackinac – through the heart of the Great Lakes. The tunnel fails to address the broader risks posed by Enbridge’s aging Line 5 pipeline and introduces new and terrifying environmental safety risks.

    The Commission is disregarding warnings from independent industry experts and putting residents on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border in uncharted, dangerous territory. Furthermore, Enbridge and decision-makers continue to blatantly ignore reputable industry analysis showing that neither the tunnel nor the Line 5 pipeline, are necessary to reliably and affordably meet our energy needs. We have safer options than Line 5 and this dangerous tunnel.

    We cannot allow Enbridge to jeopardize the health and safety of the Great Lakes and the many people who depend on them. We need the Government of Canada and the United States to prioritize the health of the Great Lakes, a shared public treasure, and work collaboratively towards a planned and orderly shutdown of the Line 5 pipeline.

    Background info:

    • This tunnel would be the largest underwater tunnel to carry hazardous liquids in the world, crossing directly through the heart of the world’s largest surface freshwater system, the Great Lakes.
    • The sediment under the Straits of Mackinac is of poor quality for tunnel boring, threatening the tunnel’s integrity
    • Experts testified that an explosion could create a fuel-rich fire that would burn for days, causing the tunnel to collapse.
    • The presence of methane gas introduces the risk that hydrocarbon gas could cause an explosion under the lakebed.
    • The Straits of Mackinac is a treaty-protected site of deep spiritual and cultural significance for Anishinaabe peoples. All twelve of Michigan’s federally recognized Tribes have passed resolutions calling for the decommissioning of Line 5

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Paula Gray, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post Statement on Michigan Public Service Commission’s Decision to Approve Dangerous Line 5 Tunnel Project appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.

  • Environmental and Farm Organizations Say Provincial Legislation Needs Major Changes to Keep Premier Ford’s Greenbelt Promises

    Aerial photo of Dufferin Rouge Agricultural Preserve - the largest area removed from the Greenbelt by the Ontario government

    ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE

    Ten year review process must be overhauled to repair damage caused by Greenbelt scandal

    Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Nineteen of Ontario’s leading environmental and farm organizations are calling for significant changes to the Greenbelt Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023 – legislation introduced by the Ontario government last month in hopes of beginning to extract itself from the Greenbelt scandal.

    In its current form, the draft legislation would restore Greenbelt protection to the fifteen key areas of farmland and natural heritage the government stripped of protection in December 2022. However, the group of organizations, which include Environmental Defence, the National Farmers Union and the Grand River Environmental Alliance, have warned the government that the changes proposed fall far short of making good on Premier Doug Ford’s September 21st promise that Ontario will never again remove land from the Greenbelt.

    The proper functioning of the Greenbelt requires that farmers, landowners and prospective investors have virtual certainty that lands which currently enjoy Greenbelt protection will never be available for residential, commercial or industrial development or related infrastructure. According to organization signees, the damage the government’s actions and statements have done to that protection “cannot be repaired simply by restoring Greenbelt, Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, and Niagara Escarpment Protection Act protections to the affected lands themselves”, even if that protection is enshrined in statute.

    In order to fix the damage, they have asked for amendments that would:

    • Expressly prohibit consideration of Greenbelt removals as part of the 10-year Greenbelt Plan reviews provided for under the Greenbelt Act.
    • Prohibit the Minister from recommending removal of Greenbelt land as a result of 10-year Greenbelt Plan reviews.
    • Close loopholes that have been exploited to allow new uses, like major new highways, to destroy the environmental or agricultural values of Greenbelt lands.
    • Continuously expand the Greenbelt to prevent GTHA sprawl from “leapfrogging” into land beyond its current boundaries.
    • Ensure that new statutory protection for current Greenbelt lands are not undermined by having to reopen the Greenbelt Act, 2003 every time new land is added.

    Phil Pothen, Program Manager, Ontario Environment at Environmental Defence, said:

    “Premier Ford promised, in his apology this September, that Ontario would never again remove land from the Greenbelt. However, Minister Callandra’s subsequent comments about the 10-year Greenbelt Plan review have reopened the wound. In order to close the loopholes that the government’s own actions have revealed, and restore the certainty that Greenbelt protection is permanent, that permanence must be stated much more clearly in the Greenbelt Act and built into all its processes.”

    Kevin Thomason, Vice-Chair of the Grand River Environmental Network, said: 

    “It is so important that the provincial government listens to the concerns of its citizens and expert groups that have been advocating for these stronger protections and important improvements to the Greenbelt legislation. Premier Doug Ford promised to fix things and it needs to be fixed better than what they are attempting. Not only does it need to be fixed but there are also improvements such as strengthening and expanding the Greenbelt that they know also needs to be done if our province is going to be successful in the future.”

    Max Hansgen, President, National Farmers Union, said:

    “Ontario Farmland is a finite resource; continuously and strategically expanding the Greenbelt and implementing protections for all farmland in Ontario will guarantee that future generations have secure access to local food. Ontario loses 319 acres of farmland per day. We simply can’t afford to lose more. Returning the 15 parcels of Greenbelt land is an important first step, but we encourage the government to work with farmers and conservation groups to expand the Greenbelt and farmland protections in the province.”

    The full submission to the Ontario government is available here.

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Carolyn Townend, Environmental Defence
    media@environmentaldefence.ca

    Kevin Thomason, Grand River Environmental Alliance
    kevinthomason@mac.com

    Max Hansgen, National Farmers Union
    president@nfuontario.ca

     

    The post Environmental and Farm Organizations Say Provincial Legislation Needs Major Changes to Keep Premier Ford’s Greenbelt Promises appeared first on Environmental Defence.

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  • MEDIA ADVISORY: Phasing out Fossils at COP28: What needs to happen and who is holding us back?

    DUBAI, UAE – COP28 must deliver an agreement to phase out fossil fuels – and Canadian governments have an important role to play. On the first official day of COP28 Environmental Defence will be hosting a press conference to lay out our expectations. Speakers will  address why COP needs to land an agreement to phase out fossils, how a Canadian Peetroprovince, Big Oil and Finance are stalling action and promoting dangerous distractions that put Indigenous communities at further risk (like carbon capture and carbon markets) and what Canadian Premiers with little interest in taking climate action are doing at COP. 

    Who:

    • Julia Levin, Environmental Defence Canada
    • Julie Segal, Environmental Defence Canada
    • Caroline Brouillette, Climate Action Network Canada 
    • Tzeporah Berman, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and Stand.earth
    • Carole Monture, Indigenous Climate Action
    • Joe Vipond, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment & Calgary Climate Hub 

    Where: 

    In Person: Press Conference Room 2 – Zone B6 – Building 77

    Virtual: https://unfccc.int/event/environmental-defence-canada

    When: Thursday November 30th, 5:30-6PM GST

    ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

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    For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

    Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca

    The post MEDIA ADVISORY: Phasing out Fossils at COP28: What needs to happen and who is holding us back? appeared first on Environmental Defence.

    This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.