VANCOUVER | UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH) AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES — Today at the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit, the federal government announced an updated framework to address methane pollution.
Canada has set a goal to reduce 75 per cent of oil and gas methane emissions by 2030.
Tom Green, Foundation senior climate policy adviser, said:
“Following one of the most devastating climate-fuelled summers in Canada’s history, this announcement of an updated framework to deal with methane pollution is very welcome. It’s one step the federal government can take to show it’s serious about acting on the climate emergency.
“Canadian industry vents a lot of climate-destroying methane into the atmosphere. Reducing oil and gas methane emissions is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to slow climate change over the short term, and much of the technology needed to eliminate methane is readily available.
“To be effective, this framework needs to be translated as quickly as possible into strong methane regulations that hold oil and gas companies responsible for decreasing emissions and cleaning up their pollution. The real climate impact will be in the details of the regulations. We’re advocating for stronger standards that require companies to regularly check their facilities for leaks, replace old, leaky equipment with new devices that emit less pollution, and be held accountable for excessive pollution and improved methane monitoring and reporting.
“Stronger environmental protections will be needed to meet the goal to reduce 75 per cent of oil and gas methane emissions by 2030. Putting ambitious methane regulations in place immediately is a concrete way to demonstrate to people in Canada that government is responding to this summer of climate reckoning.”
– 30 –
Background:
- Natural gas is mostly methane, and over half of Canada’s methane pollution comes from the oil and gas sector. Over a 20-year period, methane traps 84 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
- The Canadian government estimates oil and gas companies emit about 1.5 million metric tons of methane pollution each year, but scientists have found that Canada’s oil and gas industry is emitting much more than that.
- For information on methane in Canada: https://cutmethane.ca/
For more information or a media interview, please contact:
Theresa Beer, 778-874-3396, tbeer@davidsuzuki.org
The David Suzuki Foundation (DavidSuzuki.org | @DavidSuzukiFdn) is a leading Canadian environmental non-profit organization, founded in 1990. We operate in English and French, with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. We collaborate with all people in Canada, including First Nations leadership and communities, governments, businesses and individuals to find solutions to create a sustainable Canada through scientific research, traditional ecological knowledge, communications and public engagement, and innovative policy and legal solutions. Our mission is to protect nature’s diversity and the well-being of all life, now and for the future.