Finalized the Ontario Emissions Performance Standards for large, industrial emitters to ensure polluters are accountable for the GHG emissions; and

Successfully issued Green Bonds for $1.7 billion

Government of Canada

In September of 2019, the environmental commissioner of Canada announced the intention of the Liberal government to set a target for Canada to be Carbon Neutral by the year 2050. This was further emphasized by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his throne speech following the 2019 election.

Carbon neutrality means achieving no net emission of greenhouse gas by eliminating carbon emissions altogether or balancing emissions with carbon removed from the atmosphere.

Brief History of Canada’s Emissions Reduction Targets

The Government of Canada has a long history of setting emissions reduction targets and signing agreements to environmental protocols dating back to the 1992 Earth Summit. Information regarding the agreements and Canada’s historic performance in achieving them is summarized in the table below.

Table 1: Federal Emission Reduction Targets and results

Year	Name	Target	Result
1992	Earth Summit	1.3% reduction from 1992 levels by 2000	Emissions increased 21.4% over this period
2002	Kyoto Protocol	6% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012	Emissions increased 30% over this period
2009	Copenhagen Accord	17% below 2005 levels by 2020	Latest emissions inventory of 2017 shows 1.8% decrease in emissions over this period
2016	Paris Agreement	30% reduction from 2005 levels by 2030	Latest emissions inventory 1.8% decrease over this period shows

A commitment to carbon neutrality is a drastic increase in emissions reduction over the current Paris Accord reduction target of a 30% reduction over 2005 levels by 2030. Canada’s emissions in 2005 were 730 megatonnes.

As of the last published federal GHG inventory, Canada’s emissions in 2017 were 717 megatonnes – representing a 1.8% decrease in emissions over the 2005 baseline. In the second biannual National emissions reduction report published by the Canadian government in 2016 it was projected that by 2030 national emissions would be 815