In June 2021, Parliament enacted the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which establishes a framework for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction initiatives; in March 2020, Canada announced and its targets to GHG targets to reduce carbon emissions to 40-50% of 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. None of Canada’s previous emission reduction targets has been achieved. Instead, apart from COVID-driven 2020 production reductions, Canada’s GHG emissions have continued to increase, so success is not guaranteed.
Energy produces 80% of Canada’s GHG emissions and energy regulation will be central to achieving those targets.
There are several specific GHG policy proposals that are aimed at achieving GHG reduction targets through transitioning the energy sectors. The two key areas of focus of these policies are:
(i) reducing emissions from fossil fuel production through a combination of carbon pricing, emissions caps on fossil fuel production, investment in carbon capture use and storage, and hydrogen; and
(ii) transforming provincial electricity systems to:
(a) Replace electricity generated by coal, oil and gas with electricity generated by emissions free fuel, largely renewable and nuclear power; and
(b) An electrification policy aimed at vastly increasing not-emitting electricity supply to replace fossil fuels used in transportation, heating, and heavy industry.
In related policy proposals, both the federal and provincial governments are investing heavily in industrial policy aimed at transitioning Canada’s energy economy to lower carbon businesses, including things such as electric vehicles, battery factories, and carbon capture, utilization and storage.
All of these transitions represent fundamental and challenging changes to current energy policy.
The learning objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the fundamentals of international and domestic energy regulation and how achieving Canada’s GHG reduction goals will require fundamental and dramatic change to federal and provincial energy policies. This involves evaluating the likelihood of success of current policy proposals and considering whether there are alternative policy approaches that may be more successful.
