Follow-up petition on the quantification of Canada’s total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from exported fossil fuels

Petition: 390F

Issue(s): Climate change; Human/environmental health; International cooperation; Natural resources; Transport

Petitioner(s): A Canadian organization

Petitioner location(s): Ottawa, Ontario

Date received: 28 May 2024

Status: Completed—Response(s) to petition received

Summary: The petition is a follow‑up to petitions 390B, 390C, 390D, and 390E, and it requests information on movements of different fossil fuels from and through Canada. The petition claims that the most recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stress that the window to prevent global warming over 1.5 degrees Celsius is getting smaller. The petition claims that to meet this challenge, Canada must be able to account for all its emissions, including accounting for the entire life cycle of the fossil fuels it extracts and exports to 133 countries. The petition requests information on the aggregate quantities of different fossil fuels, including oil and natural gas, exported from and through Canada from 2016 to 2023 and their associated downstream emissions from combustion. The petition additionally asks for a breakdown of the method of transportation of these different fossil fuels exported through Canada for the same period.

Despite Environment and Climate Change Canada stating that it is unable to calculate emissions from thermal coal combustion because of the lack of data on “in transit” and “temporary” exports, the petition claims that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change provided such data when responding to an order of the House of Commons. Therefore, the petition requests information on the aggregate quantities of thermal coal exported from and through Canada in 2023 and its associated downstream emissions from combustion. The petition additionally asks for a breakdown of the method of transport for thermal coal exported through Canada in 2023.

The petition states that a government inventory to account for greenhouse gas emissions from exported fossil fuels does not exist because the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change does not require this type of reporting. Despite this, the petition stresses that Canada could account for such emissions to achieve the convention’s objective.

Federal departments/organizations responsible for reply: Canada Energy Regulator; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Statistics Canada; Transport Canada