Is the sound good? Okay.
For example, I can take mine tailings or construction waste and have them react with CO2 to create high value‑added materials and new construction materials. So I'm basing my remarks today on that expertise.
This has already been mentioned, but the sixth report of the IPCC, published a few weeks ago, makes a clear observation. According to the IPCC, the cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well‑being and planetary health. The IPCC estimates that any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.
According to the latest inventory, the country's emissions in 2019 were down 1.1% from 2005 levels. While emissions are generally declining or stagnant, emissions from the oil and gas and transportation sectors are increasing significantly. Specifically, emissions from oil and gas extraction increased from 63 million tonnes to 105 million tonnes of CO2, an increase of 40% due to an increase of almost 200% in production. The emission intensity reduction per unit of hydrocarbon produced is insufficient and a net emission reduction should be sought.
In 2016, the Pan‑Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change was adopted. One of the plans was to reduce emissions from the oil sector by 40% to 45% below 2012 levels by 2025, three years from now. The results show that emissions are up 13%.
Carbon capture, utilization and storage technology, or CCUS, which I am very familiar with, has been put forward by industry players to achieve reduction targets. This technology has been in use in Canada since 2014. According to the latest report from the Global CCS Institute, just over 4 million tonnes of CO2 is captured annually in Canada. CO2 comes from the energy sector, and hydrogen and fertilizer production. However, only 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 is stored, while the rest is used for enhanced oil recovery, which in my view negates any environmental benefit.
Currently, no emissions from oil and gas production and refining are captured or stored in Canada. Projects in development focus on emissions from areas other than those of interest to us today. Only the Edmonton Region Hydrogen HUB identifies petroleum refining as part of its broader portfolio of emissions under consideration.
Therefore, it seems that CCUS will not be the solution for achieving the sector's specific reduction targets in the short term.
Still, CCUS remains a key technology for the energy transition, especially for reducing emissions from hard‑to‑kill industrial sectors, such as cement and steel, and even for bioenergy. CCUS must absolutely dissociate itself from enhanced oil recovery, which makes no sense. CO2 must be stored in geological reservoirs or used as feedstock to decarbonize supply chains, including construction materials, chemicals and fuels such as methanol.
Considering the too many reduction targets not met in the past and current trends, considering the increase in net production and emissions in the Canadian oil and gas sector, considering the current failure of CCUS to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector, considering the recent observations reported by the IPCC, as well as the urgent need for concrete action, my recommendations are as follows.
First, a cap on emissions from the oil sector must be introduced quickly. The cap could be progressive, but it must definitely meet the reduction targets set out in the Pan‑Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.
Second, we need to continue and strengthen carbon pricing to consolidate and stimulate the market in order to accelerate the development of clean technologies, such as CCUS, but separate from the oil industry.
Finally, I recommend an energy transition based on renewable and local energy that will move away from fossil fuels and provide greater security for Canadians in the face of climate and geopolitical tensions, while enabling economic prosperity.
In other words, we aren't talking about not fossil fuel self‑sufficiency, but about truly low‑carbon energy self‑sufficiency.
Thank you.