Lack of GHG reduction targets in Saskatchewan makes progress hard to measure, advocates say

The ongoing absence of clear and distinct hardline emission reduction targets make meaningful action to mitigate against climate change both difficult to achieve and measure, say advocates with questions about the Saskatchewan government’s 2021 climate resilience repot.

The report measures “the province’s improvements toward building resilience to a changing global climate,” according to a press release Thursday morning.

“One thing that was missing and that I really want to know is: how are our total provincial emissions doing?” said University of Regina environmental studies professor Emily Eaton. “Are they declining?”

Saskatchewan released its Climate Resilience Measurement Framework in November of 2018, looking at a combined 25 “resilience measures” across categories of natural systems, physical infrastructure, economic sustainability, community preparedness and human well-being. Thursday’s progress reported noted that 17 are in good standing.

“But they haven’t told us whether we have found absolute emissions reductions in the Saskatchewan economy,” Eaton said.

“That’s really significant for climate change because climate change is a problem of absolute emissions.”

The United Nations has said emissions need to drop by 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030 to reach net zero by 2050. Under the 2015 legally binding climate treaty, the Paris Agreement, Canada committed to a 30 per cent reduction from 2005 levels by 2030. It’s a goal Saskatchewan subscribed to.

Figures currently on the provincial government’s website suggest Saskatchewan is aiming for an approximately 16 per cent reduction from 2018 levels.

“Did you know: 12 million tonnes of annual greenhouse gases will be reduced by 2030 through the Prairie Resilience strategy,” states a sidebar on the website, which doesn’t provide any point of reference or clear baseline.

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When asked about this by Global News, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment said, “Our strategy is designed to protect our economy, and makes better sense for Saskatchewan people and industries, with a diverse set of regulations to not only reduce emissions but to also improve performance across many sectors and measure resilience, as seen in the 2021 report.”

The ministry said it is “encouraged to see the province’s greenhouse gas emissions falling in 2019 — the most recent data available.”

It also added that some specific targets do exist. SaskPower is supposed to reduce emissions at least 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.  The Methane Action Plan calls for a 40 per cent reduction in upstream oil and gas emissions as well.

Peter Prebble, a board member of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, noted that while the province has made progress concerning methane and is slowly creating more renewable energy options, many sector-based performance measures are missing.

He said areas such as transportation and agriculture not only need targets as well, but specific strategies toward achieving them.

“This is a major gap in the framework,” Prebble said.

“Saskatchewan is clearly going to face some very major risks from climate change in the years ahead.”