The carbon market greatly contributes to bringing Quebec closer to its reduction target for 2030, according to the GHG inventory published Tuesday, which also indicates that in 2022, the province recorded lower emission levels than those listed before the pandemic.
According to the report on the reduction target of the government of Quebec made public on Tuesday, in 2022, total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Quebec amounted to 79.3 million metric tons in CO equivalent.2 (Mt CO eq.2).
This is 1.7 million tonnes more than the 77.6 million GHGs emitted into the atmosphere in 2021, during the last report.
However, the province recorded lower levels of GHG emissions than those recorded before the pandemic.
The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Environment, Jean-Fançois Gibeault, made it clear, during a technical briefing for the media, “that we must compare apples with apples” and that, if we evaluate over several years, Quebec’s emissions are decreasing.
Comparing 2022 with 2021 does not give an accurate picture of the situation, according to him, because several health measures had slowed down the economy in 2021.
When we compare the 2022 GHG inventory with that of 2019, before the pandemic, almost all sectors recorded reductions in emissions.
Transportation decreased by 4.3%, residential, commercial and institutional heating by 9.9%, industry by 2.4%, the residual materials sector decreased by 5.0% while agriculture decreased by 2.2%.
The carbon market: an effective tool
When we take into account the effect of the carbon market, Quebec has reduced its emissions by 19% by 2022 compared to 1990 levels.
Which makes the Minister of the Environment say that we have reached half of our objective of reducing our GHGs by 37.5% compared to 1990 levels, by 2030.
“It is a tool that has proven to be excessively effective, you should know that GHGs have no borders and the goal is to reduce them as quickly as possible at the lowest possible cost,” commented Minister Benoit Charette during a press conference.
In 2022, Quebec companies purchased approximately 10 Mt eq of emissions rights in California, the province’s partner in the carbon market.
GHG emissions emitted in Quebec were therefore calculated in the California inventory.
Now that the electricity sector is mostly decarbonized in California, “it is starting to become more complex to reduce emissions on the Californian side, so there will be less and less purchases on the American side and more and more on the side of Quebec,” predicted Minister Charette.
If we calculate GHG emissions without taking into account the market with California, between 1990 and 2022, emissions on Quebec territory decreased by 7.2%, according to the report published Tuesday.
There is therefore a 12% reduction in GHGs compared to 1990 levels which is attributable to the carbon market.
The carbon market allows both states to reduce their GHG emissions in one or the other territory, where it is less costly to do so.
Transport generates 43% of emissions
In 2022, transport generated 34.3 Mt eq. CO2or 43.3% of total emissions, which represents an increase of 1.3% compared to 2021.
The industrial sector is the second largest emitter, with 24.5 Mt eq. CO2or 0.1 Mt CO eq2 less than the previous year. This sector represents 31% of GHG emissions.
Agriculture, whose GHGs have decreased slightly compared to 2021, follows in third place, with 8 Mt eq. CO2or 10% of GHG emissions.
Residential, commercial and institutional buildings (heating) come in fourth place, with 7.6 Mt eq. CO2a decrease of 0.5 Mt eq. CO2 compared to 2021.
The residual materials sector contributes 4.5 Mt eq. CO2 (5,6 %).
The lowest per capita footprint in the country
Still according to the report on the reduction target of the government of Quebec, in 2022, Quebec GHG emissions represented 11.2% of Canadian emissions, which reached 707.8 Mt eq. CO2.
In comparison, Ontario’s GHG emissions were 157.0 Mt eq. CO2or 22.2% of the Canadian total, and those of Alberta at 269.9 Mt eq. CO2 of GHGs, or 38.1% of Canadian emissions.
When we calculate the emissions emitted per capita, it is Quebecers who have the lowest footprint in the country with 9.1 t eq. CO2followed by residents of Prince Edward Island with 9.6 and Ontario with 10.4.
Provinces that still rely on coal and natural gas to supply their electricity are those that produce the most GHGs per capita.
Saskatchewanians emit 64.4 t eq. CO2 while Albertans are second in the ranking for the highest rate of GHG emissions per capita with 59.8 t eq. CO2.
Different GHGs
The inventory indicates that in 2022, carbon dioxide (CO2) constituted 78.4% of all GHGs emitted in Quebec.
Transport is responsible for the majority of CO production2 (54 %).
The production of methane (CH4) was estimated at 12.8% of GHGs and it is the agriculture sector which is responsible for the largest share of methane emitted into the atmosphere in Quebec (47%).
The production of nitrous oxide (N2O) was estimated at 4.8% of GHGs, that of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) at 3.1%, and that of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) at 0.8%.
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) accounted for 0.1% of total emissions.
The government plans a drop for 2023
The inventory of GHG emissions is presented at the end of each year, two years late.
Data for 2023 will therefore be published next year.
But based on available data, the government already estimates that GHG emissions will be lower than in 2022.
“In the last year alone, nearly $1.5 billion was invested to reduce Quebec’s GHG emissions,” we can read in one of the appendices to the inventory published Tuesday.
The Quebec inventory of greenhouse gas emissions is based, in particular, on data provided by companies. Until 2007, they transmitted their emission or energy consumption and production data voluntarily.
But since 2007, companies have been required to provide this information under the Regulation respecting the mandatory reporting of certain emissions of contaminants into the atmosphere.
