On the eve of the largest annual global climate conference (COP27), over 70 health and environment organizations are calling on the Government of Canada to acknowledge and act to reduce the logging industry’s significant greenhouse gas emissions.
In a joint letter, the groups raise concern that Canada neither reports, nor has a plan to reduce, the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) caused by industrial logging of Canada’s forests. The letter references a recent report by Nature Canada and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which showed that, based on government data, logging in Canada causes emissions on par with those from Canada’s oil sands operations.
“Canada is heading to the COP27 conference in Egypt with a major gap in its climate plan,” said Michael Polanyi, Policy and Campaign Manager at Nature Canada. “The legitimacy of Canada’s global leadership on climate change is being jeopardized by its failure to address emissions from one of its most climate-polluting sectors.”
Signatories to the letter include faith, health, climate, and nature groups spanning 10 provinces and territories and representing hundreds of thousands of individuals across Canada.
“Canada will not meet its 2030 climate and nature commitments unless emissions from all sectors of the economy are accurately and transparently reported – and all high-emitting economic sectors take action to reduce their GHG emissions,” says the letter.
The letter calls on Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada Steven Guilbeault and Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson to clearly and transparently report GHG emissions from logging in future climate reports and to launch a strategy to reduce logging emissions and better protect primary forests.
On the heels of COP27, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will hold its conference (COP15) in Montreal, Quebec, placing Canada’s ambition on the protection of climate- and species-critical forests in the spotlight.
“Canada has an opportunity to be a global leader in addressing climate change and biodiversity collapse at the upcoming COP27 and COP15 conferences,” said Jennifer Skene, Natural Climate Solutions Policy Manager at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “But it can only lead if it recognizes the tens of millions of tons of climate pollution coming each year from the logging sector and the irreplaceable value of primary forests.”
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For more information contact:
Michael Polanyi, Nature Canada
343.553.6060
mpolanyi@naturecanada.ca
Margie Kelly, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
541.222.9699
mkelly@nrdc.org