Advice on a long-term strategy on energy and climate change : Conseils sur une stratégie à long terme sur l'énergie et les changements climatiques

In previous work on climate change, the NRTEE determined that the following special features of Canada’s national interest are directly relevant to the question of climate change: As a major consumer, producer and exporter of energy, Canada is unique among the highly industrialized countries and the signatories to Kyoto. [...] However, the magnitude of the climate changes likely to face the sector over the coming decades may be unprecedented within the history of the industry. [...] Emissions from the production of energy for export are also the subject of one of the key assumptions made at the outset of the analysis; that Canadian energy production will grow at rates that are determined less by the internal dynamics of the Canadian economy and more by continental and global markets for these commodities. [...] Advice on a Long-term Strategy on Energy and Climate Change – June 2006 9 A 60 per cent reduction of GHG emissions needs to be viewed in the context of the unique Canadian situation: our population is growing, the size of the economy is growing faster than the population, and the petroleum industry is growing faster than the economy. [...] While domestic energy demands have fallen, the oil and gas industry continues to produce at rates similar to those achieved at the turn of the century, exporting oil and gas to the US and the rest of the world.