Many parts of the world were bombarded with news in the final months of 2020, from the US presidential election to the skyrocketing COVID-19 cases and the first shipments of vaccines.
Between each of these historic events, steps were also taken to address the other crisis in our lives: climate change.
Starting a year that the United Nations has said is critical to addressing the climate crisis, government officials and voters at home and abroad are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stop global warming.
Here are three stories that demonstrate where change is possible in 2021.
Blue vs Green hydrogen
The federal government is betting on hydrogen as the fuel of the future, a low-carbon alternative to oil and gas that could one day heat our homes, power electric vehicles, buses and transport trucks, and make industrial processes cleaner. , such as steelmaking and mining.
Countries seeking to reduce emissions – Spain, Saudi Arabia and Japan, for example – are already building their hydrogen infrastructure in what Forbes called the “green hydrogen revolution.” Light, energy-dense fuel is attractive because it does not emit greenhouse gases directly.
Canada’s first hydrogen strategy came in mid-December. The Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan, framed it as a way to stimulate investment and position Canada as a world leader in hydrogen production for decades to come. At a press conference on December 16, he painted an upbeat picture:
“As our strategy makes clear, hydrogen could transform almost every aspect of our economy, taking advantage of the economic and environmental opportunities that exist from coast to coast, expanding our exports, creating up to 350,000 good jobs over the next three decades, all while drastically reducing emissions and putting net zero (emissions) within our grasp. “
The federal government has not disclosed how much money it plans to spend to grow the sector, but is targeting future tax credits, subsidies and attracting private investment.
While the strategy supports the development of “green hydrogen”, derived from renewable energy and water, it also relies heavily on “blue hydrogen”.
Blue hydrogen is derived from natural gas, which is a fossil fuel. Thus, creating blue hydrogen emits carbon that will be trapped by carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, O’Regan said.
Environmental groups are critical, saying the federal government is missing an opportunity to make hydrogen production as clean as possible.
CCS is largely unproven, expensive, and perpetuates a false narrative that Canada can maintain a thriving fossil fuel industry while significantly reducing emissions, said Julia Levin of Environmental Defense.
“This strategy will lock Canada into a future of using fossil fuels,” he said.
O’Regan said the government will not “discriminate” against any particular industry. While Alberta and Saskatchewan have the resources to produce blue hydrogen, Ontario can produce green hydrogen from nuclear power, and Quebec from hydroelectricity.
Climate action in the courts
Canada: Seven young climate change activists hope to present their case against the government of Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford in 2021.
They launched their lawsuit in fall 2019, challenging the province’s cancellation of the cap-and-trade agreement and claiming it has set inadequate greenhouse gas emission targets to stop global warming. These failures, the petitioners argue, will exacerbate the climate crisis and violate their Charter rights to life, liberty and security of person.
In response, the province filed a motion to vacate the lawsuit before it could be heard. But last November, in a landmark decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled in favor of the applicants. That means the lawsuit will go to a full hearing probably sometime in 2021.
“For the first time in history, a Canadian court ruled that citizens have the ability to challenge their government’s actions on climate change under the country’s highest law: the Bill of Rights and Freedoms,” said the Ecojustice attorney. Canada, Fraser Thompson, who represents the applicants.
Thompson said it will help applicants submit a “complete factual record” to demonstrate the “indisputable science of climate change” and the requirement to act with much greater urgency than the status quo.
Another decisive ruling to consider: the Supreme Court decision on the federal carbon tax. Separate legal challenges presented by Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario made their way to Canada’s superior court last year, where they were heard in the fall.
The provinces argue that the law is outside federal jurisdiction. The federal government argues that a carbon pricing system is in the national interest to reduce pollution and emissions.
The Supreme Court is likely to deliver its ruling in 2021.
Welcoming the new President Biden
US President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on January 20, 2021, triggering what is expected to be significantly bolder climate action south of the border than seen in the last administration.
Biden has named climate change as a top priority and has pledged to join the Paris Agreement. And unlike the president of the United States, Donald Trump, he recognizes global warming as “an existential threat to humanity.”
“His platform was very bold and ambitious on climate change and I think it’s very positive for Canada,” Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in an interview last month.
“There are all kinds of things we can do together.”
As per the report by Huffpost, Wilkinson said the two countries could build a zero-emission transportation network that runs on both sides of the border, for example. He has also suggested a North American ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars.
If the US moves more aggressively toward low-carbon fuels, it will be an opportunity for Canada and other parts of the world to grow their clean energy and technology sectors.
