New mines, pipelines, power plants and railways in Canada will have to include a plan to hit net zero emissions by 2050 to have any hope of approval
The Impact Assessment Act was passed before the last election to overhaul how federal environmental assessments are done. A long list of projects, from mines and power lines to wind farms, airports, and pipelines, automatically require those assessments. The environment minister can also insist a federal assessment be done even on some projects not on that list.
The report released Thursday outlines how that will happen. It requires project proposals to include the greenhouse-gas emissions to be produced from construction and operations and what efforts are being made to minimize emissions.“It is important that the assessment of projects is consistent with Canada’s commitment to achieving a net-zero future by 2050,” said Wilkinson.
A net-zero plan will be one of the enforceable conditions put on a project if it is approved, but there are no details about how such a plan would be measured or enforced. She also noted that there is nothing requiring an assessment of the emissions that will be produced downstream — like when oil in a new oilsands mine is refined and burned to drive cars, or when coal is burned to make electricity.
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