(Bloomberg)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promised cap on emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector is coming by the end of the year, his environment minister said.
The cap — which is among the most contentious of Trudeau’s climate policies — has continued to slip past deadlines.
The government had aimed to release a draft proposal in early 2023, but talks have dragged on as policymakers aim to craft a document that ensures that emissions go down without forcing production cuts on one of Canada’s largest industries.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told a climate conference in Ottawa on Thursday that the government has had “hundreds” of meetings on the issue. It’s “a very live conversation,” he said.
“But by the end of the year, you will have a pretty good idea of how we will go about that.”
In August, Guilbeault told Bloomberg he hoped to publish a draft proposal for the emissions cap in October, and “definitely” before COP 28, the United Nations climate conference that begins Nov. 30 in Dubai.
Last year, the minister published a proposed emissions-reduction plan that foresaw a 42% reduction in oil and gas sector emissions by 2030 — a target industry groups have argued is too restrictive.
However, Canadian officials have also said the 42% figure was a modeling exercise, and that in practice, the share of each sector’s emission cuts may look different by 2030.
The government’s goal is to reduce emissions by at least 40% below 2005 levels by then.
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