B.C. Climate News: Oil & gas emissions cut | Our hottest year | Trump policies

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Here’s all the latest news concerning the climate crisis and biodiversity loss crises, from the steps leaders are taking to address the problems to all the latest science.

In climate news this week:

• Canada orders oil, gas producers to cut emissions by 35 per cent
• Donald Trump elected U.S. president — what does it mean for climate policy?
• 2024 will be hottest on record, say climate scientists
• Dozens still missing after Spain’s deadly floods

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Human activities like burning fossil fuels and farming livestock are the main drivers of climate change, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This causes heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, increasing the planet’s surface temperature.

The panel, which is made up of scientists from around the world, has warned for decades that wildfires and severe weather, such as B.C.’s deadly heat dome and catastrophic flooding in 2021, would become more frequent and more intense because of the climate emergency. It has issued a “code red” for humanity and warns the window to limit warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial times is closing.

According to NASA climate scientists, “there is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate” and that human activity is the principal cause.

Check back every Saturday for more climate and environmental news or sign up for our Climate Connected newsletter HERE.

Climate change quick facts:

• The Earth is now about 1.3 C warmer than it was in the 1800s.
• 2023 was hottest on record globally, beating the last record in 2016.
• Human activities have raised atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by nearly 49 per cent above pre-industrial levels starting in 1850.
• The world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement target to keep global temperature from exceeding 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, the upper limit to avoid the worst fallout from climate change including sea level rise, and more intense drought, heat waves and wildfires.
• On the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, the temperature could increase by as much 3.6 C this century, according to the IPCC.
• In April, 2022 greenhouse gas concentrations reached record new highs and show no sign of slowing.
• Emissions must drop 7.6 per cent per year from 2020 to 2030 to keep temperatures from exceeding 1.5 C and 2.7 per cent per year to stay below 2 C.
• 97 per cent of climate scientists agree that the climate is warming and that human beings are the cause.

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(Source: United Nations IPCC, World Meteorological Organization, UNEP, NASA, climatedata.ca)

Latest News

Canada orders oil, gas producers to cut emissions by 35 per cent

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will require Canada’s oil and gas industry to cut emissions by 35 per cent from 2019 levels, inflaming tensions with the country’s western provinces.

The plan will be implemented through a cap-and-trade system that sets a legal limit on the sector’s emissions and then lets companies buy and sell a limited number of emissions allowances, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced on Monday.

The minister released draft regulations on Monday after presenting an early framework last year. Guilbeault said the government will continue to consult on the final regulations before they’re published next year.

Companies that reduce emissions will be able to sell more allowances, rewarding those who innovate to cut pollution. The government will begin enforcing the cap in 2030 and gradually lower it until Canada’s economy reaches net zero in 2050.

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“We are asking the oil and gas sector to invest their record profits into pollution-cutting projects, projects that can create and keep good jobs,” Guilbeault said at a news conference.

Producers will be allowed to buy carbon offsets or contribute to a decarbonization fund to cover as much as 20 per cent of their emissions at each facility they operate.

Read the full story here.

— Bloomberg

‘I’m pissed’: Smith calls Guilbeault’s emissions cap ‘deranged vendetta’ against Alberta

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said on Monday that the oil and gas sector must do more to help Canada get to net zero, while unveiling long-awaited draft regulations capping the sector’s carbon emissions to 35 per cent below 2019 levels by 2030.

“We should all be driving toward the same goal,” said Guilbeault at press briefing near Parliament Hill. “And every sector must do its part.”

“Oil and gas is no exception,” continued Guilbeault, who was flanked by Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson and Edmonton-based Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith released a statement trashing the proposed cap before Guilbeault was even done speaking.

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“I’m pissed. I’m absolutely angry because we’ve been working with these guys for two years because we have a plan that would reduce emissions responsibly by 2050,” Smith said at a later press conference in Edmonton. “This is not a responsible policy. He has a deranged vendetta against Alberta. It’s very obvious.”

Read the full story here.

— National Post

New oil and gas pollution cap regulations ‘critical,’ say environmental lawyers

Environmental lawyers at West Coast Environmental Law Association are welcoming the draft regulations released Monday by the federal government to cap greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector.

“Capping pollution from the oil and gas sector is a no-brainer,” said Anna Johnston, a lawyer with the group.

“The federal government has been regulating air and water pollution for decades under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and in the context of climate change, a cap on oil and gas emissions is a logical next step. This move to regulate climate pollution is squarely within the federal government’s jurisdiction, and it’s an essential piece of the policy puzzle when it comes to reducing emissions and meeting Canada’s climate targets.”

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The oil and gas sector is Canada’s largest source of emissions, representing 31 per cent of the country’s total emissions. For years, the industry has promised to voluntarily reduce its carbon footprint, but instead oil and gas sector emissions have continued to rise, causing Canada to miss every emissions target it has set, the lawyers say.

The group says the draft regulations should be strengthened to require oil and gas emitters to pay for the ability to pollute.

— Tiffany Crawford

U.S. Election: Will Trump roll back climate policies?

Trump has vowed to increase U.S. production of fossil fuels by easing the permitting process for drilling on federal land and would encourage new natural gas pipelines, according to a Reuters report. He has said he would reauthorize oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Whether the oil industry follows through and raises production at a time when oil and gas prices are relatively low remains to be seen. He has said he will again pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, a framework for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, and would support increased nuclear energy production, the report said.

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He would also roll back Democratic President Joe Biden’s electric-vehicle mandates and other policies aimed at reducing auto emissions, Reuters reports.

The Associated Press notes Trump, who has chanted “drill, baby, drill” at rallies, would also roll back Biden-era fuel efficiency standards.

Trump has called climate change a hoax, has dismissed threats like rising sea levels, and during his last term, attempted to roll back around 100 environmental bills, according to a report in EuroNews.

— Reuters, EuroNews, Associated Press

Trump win worries international partners ahead of COP29 climate summit

Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election has darkened the outlook for a strong deal at the COP29 climate summit next week and will increase pressure on Europe and China to lead international progress in curbing planetary warming, according to climate negotiators, Reuters reports.

Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, has said he plans to withdraw the U.S. from the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement at the start of his second presidency, and his policy advisers have floated removing the U.S. from the underlying UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1992.

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Climate negotiators and observers preparing for the COP29 conference from Nov. 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, said Trump’s decisive win over Vice-President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s poll reduces the ability of countries to agree a new global finance target, or increase the pool of countries that should contribute — goals for the summit.

The EU and U.S. had planned to push China and rich Gulf states to start paying into U.N. climate funds.

“Pushing for more ambitious climate finance is going to be almost impossible without the U.S. buy-in, which will demotivate developing countries from taking seriously the climate ambitions of the West,” said Elisabetta Cornago, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s state secretary for international climate action, said it will be up to Germany and the European Union to maintain leadership in the climate finance discussions to ensure an acceptable result.

Read the full story here.

— Reuters

European climate agency says this will likely be the hottest year on record — again

For the second year in a row, Earth will almost certainly be the hottest on record. And for the first time, the globe this year reached more than 1.5 C of warming compared to the pre-industrial average, the European climate agency Copernicus said Thursday.

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“It’s this relentless nature of the warming that I think is worrying,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus.

Buontempo said the data clearly shows the planet would not see such a long sequence of record-breaking temperatures without the constant increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere driving global warming.

He cited other factors that contribute to exceptionally warm years like last year and this one. They include El Niño — the temporary warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide — as well as volcanic eruptions that spew water vapour into the air and variations in energy from the sun. But he and other scientists say the long-term increase in temperatures beyond fluctuations like El Niño is a bad sign.

“A very strong El Niño event is a sneak peek into what the new normal will be about a decade from now,” said Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist with the non-profit Berkeley Earth.

Read the full story here.

—The Associated Press

Vancouver looks to reduce flooding by requiring rainwater tanks on almost all new buildings

Aiming to reduce sewer backups and flooding, the City of Vancouver is looking at requiring almost all new buildings to install rainwater detention tanks.

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These tanks, which are roughly 1.5 metres deep, temporarily hold rainwater and control the release into the sewer system. They have been required on all larger, high-density buildings, like condo and office towers, since the start of this year. In a report going to council next week, city staff are recommending extending this requirement to all lower-density buildings as well, such as houses, duplexes, and multiplexes.

The proposed amendments to Vancouver’s building bylaw aim to reduce the pressure on the city’s aging sewer system by placing more requirements — and more cost — on private buildings.

That approach is unpopular with some, including homebuilders who argue that it takes what should be a collective responsibility — infrastructure funding — and unfairly burdens new construction.

But there is widespread agreement that Vancouver’s aging infrastructure is under a lot of pressure and something needs to be done.

Read the full story here.

—Dan Fumano

At least 89 still missing a week after deadly flash-flooding in Spain

Francisco Murgui went out to try to salvage his motorbike when the water started to rise.

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He never came back.

One week after catastrophic flooding devastated eastern Spain, Maria Murgui still holds out hope that her missing father is alive.

“He was like many people in town who went out to get their car or motorbike to safety,” the 27-year-old told The Associated Press. “The flash flood caught him outside, and he had to cling to a tree in order to escape drowning. He called us to tell us he was fine, that we shouldn’t worry.”

But when Maria set out into the streets of Sedavi to try to rescue him from the water washing away everything in its path, he was nowhere to be found.

“He held up until 1 in the morning,” she said. “By 2, I went outside with a neighbour and a rope to try to locate him. But we couldn’t find him. And since then, we haven’t heard anything about him.”

Spanish authorities issued their first tally of the missing on Tuesday when a Valencia court said that 89 people are confirmed to be unaccounted for. The number only corresponds to the eastern Valencia region, where 211 of the 217 confirmed deaths took place when entire communities were swamped by tsunami-like floods on Oct. 29-30. Most people were caught off guard by the deluge. Regional authorities have been heavily criticized for having issued alerts to mobile phones some two hours after the disaster had started.

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Read the full story here.

—The Associated Press

New UBC research could help remove CO2 from air, even help colonize Mars

University of B.C. researchers have discovered a way to convert carbon dioxide into products that could extract harmful emissions from the atmosphere and could even help to colonize Mars.

A study, published recently in the scientific journal Device, says by harnessing the energy from temperature differences on readily available thermoelectric generators, they can convert CO2 into a range of fuels and chemicals.

Scaled-up, the tech could even power and provide materials for a colony on Mars, says the study’s lead author Curtis Berlinguette, a chemistry professor at UBC.

“This technology enables CO2 captured from air to be upgraded into fuels … our reactor uses electricity to convert the CO2 into fuels,” he said.

The goal would be to use electricity from renewable sources such as solar or wind, he said.

Read the full story here.

— Tiffany Crawford

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