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Canada’s Carbon Emissions Down for First Time Since Pandemic

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22 Sep, 2024

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

Canada’s carbon emissions are down for the first time since the pandemic, according to a 2023 estimate from publicly funded think tank the Canadian Climate Institute.

The drop of 0.8 percent between 2022 and 2023 brings the total reduction since the baseline year of 2005 to eight percent — a long way from the 2030 goal of 40 percent, a press release from the Canadian Climate Institute said.

Overall, greenhouse gas emissions have been falling slightly since 2005, but much of that trend was during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020. Since then, emissions had been trending upward, until recently, reported the Toronto Star.

“Early Estimate for 2023 shows that progress is possible, but hitting Canada’s 2030 target requires that governments build on policy momentum,” the Canadian Climate Institute said in the press release.

With the decline, Canada’s nationwide emissions are more than 700 megatons (Mt) of carbon-dioxide equivalent.

Some sectors, such as electricity, have made marked strides, but overall progress has been uneven. Rising emissions in oil and gas, transportation and other sectors have offset those gains.

Last year’s estimated emissions reduction happened even though Canada experienced high population and economic growth. In 2023, economic growth caused emissions to rise by 8.6 Mt of carbon equivalent from the year before.

Despite these increases, climate policy and the impact of changing markets  — including a ramping up of the deployment of clean energy technology — led to an emissions reduction of 14.2 Mt.

“To get on track, an annual reduction of 7 per cent is needed,” the press release said. “While this looks off pace, there is a quickening in the rate of reductions, which signals policy and technology deployment are reducing emissions at an accelerated pace.”

The 2023 Early Estimate of National Emissions (EENE) shows the dramatic contrast between rising emissions in some sectors and progress in others.

For example, the report shows that oil and gas emissions are continuing to rise. They were up 2.2 Mt — one percent — from 2022 levels and up 12.1 percent from 2005. The sector makes up 31 percent of Canada’s emissions. Higher production was responsible for the increase, with conventional oil and natural gas each up three percent and bitumen rising two percent.

Electricity saw a 6.2 decrease in emissions for 2023 to reach 38 percent from the 2005 baseline.

“This sector’s decarbonization is driven by targeted policies like the large-emitter trading systems and coal phase-outs, as well as dramatic advancements in renewable energy. Sustained policy efforts in electricity show that transformational change is possible, but other sectors need to follow suit,” the press release said.

Building emissions were down six percent last year, due mostly to lower residential consumption of natural gas and it being the warmest winter since the baseline year.

The biggest emissions increase of any sector was in transportation, which jumped 1.6 percent from 2022. This was driven by a rebound in domestic aviation of 27 percent. However, transportation emissions per capita have been dropping by more than three percent each year, keeping total emissions below pre-pandemic levels, even though the population has been growing rapidly.

Heavy industry emissions were two percent lower than in 2022, but the reduction was uneven across subsectors. Mining emissions rose, even though lime and gypsum production was down 20 percent. Limited data throughout the sector led to high uncertainty in emissions projections.

“While Canada is seeing some improvements, the overall emissions trend reveals that progress is not happening quickly or evenly enough to put Canada on track to the 2030 milestone, jeopardizing longer-term progress,” the press release said.

The Canadian Climate Institute said a major issue was the slow pace of clean energy uptake. While electricity emissions intensity has seen a 69 percent reduction since 2005, electricity demand has not increased significantly.

“The 2023 EENE underscores a central challenge for Canada. While progress is being made in certain areas, and national emissions have plateaued overall, each order of government needs to build on policy momentum — particularly in sectors like oil and gas,” the press release said. “The 2023 EENE provides an early signal, ahead of the official National Inventory Report next Spring, that governments need to accelerate action to get on the path to Canada’s next major climate commitments, and to keep up with the global energy transition.”

The post Canada’s Carbon Emissions Down for First Time Since Pandemic appeared first on EcoWatch.

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In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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