Introduction
Canada is largely defined by its size as the world’s second largest country and its sparsely populated population. About 75 percent of Canadians live within 100 miles of the United States of America. The Canadian population is also highly concentrated in cities outside southern Ontario.
Canada is a large country with a land mass of 9,970,610 square kilometers. As a large country, Canada has a wide range of ecosystems. Lakes and rivers cover 7 percent of the country. The southern part of Canada is temperate and the northern regions are subarctic and arctic. In the northernmost part of Canada, only 12 percent of the land is suitable for agriculture due to the harsh climate, so that most of the Canadian population is only a few hundred kilometers from the southern border.
Canada’s culture and market economy are very similar to those of its southern neighbor, the United States. Some of Canada’s largest industries include the extraction of natural resources such as oil, gas and uranium. The country also has strong banking and technology sectors.
Discussion
With Arctic warming more than any other biome lately, the consequences of climate change are of special interest to Canadians. Through its oil and gas operations, the nation produces immense resources. However, for a fifth of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, the oil and gas industry is responsible, with tar sands being the most carbon dioxide-intensive. (Opara, 2017)
In untreated bitumen tanks, the oil collected from Albert’s oil fields is shipped. Concerns over climate change, pipe spills, oil tankers and the interests of First Nations continue to increase the debate about whether Canada should construct new pipelines. President Obama vetoed the plan for the Keystone XL pipeline, but President Trump has since authorised it. Some scheduled pipeline projects have been cancelled, such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and the Energy East Pipeline.
Half of the population of Canada lives in urban areas and bad air quality is infamous in cities. Air pollution has been described by Environment Canada as a big concern as it threatens biodiversity, trees, soil and water. The Swedish government has said that acid rain is caused by air pollution in cities and leads to climate change. (Sambaraju, 2012).
Canada is home to an abundance of freshwater, but questions over water usage and congestion in Canada ‘s rivers have been posed by the World Wildlife Fund. WWF finds that, for irrigation, production and consumption, Canada requires significant quantities of water. The environmental organisation said Canada is transferring more water than any other nation in the world from one catchment area to another, and that the practise may be destructive to habitats.
Canada has seen much of the implications of climate change on itself and has taken a range of emissions-fighting steps. In 1999, the Environmental Protection Act of Canada was introduced to restrict such air pollution and has had numerous amendments and amendments since its inception.
The Canadian government has banned the construction of new coal-fired power plants in order to tackle greenhouse gas pollution in the energy sector. Laws that demand lower car emissions and more efficient fuel consumption have also been introduced by the government. In 2016, air quality restrictions were enforced in many industries to restrict the quantity of nitrogen oxides ( NOx) released from gaseous fuel boilers, heaters and fire-ignition stationary gaseous petrol engines. (Pineau, 2012).
Canada also has several partnerships with the international community on the climate. The first industrialised nation to ratify the UN Convention on Biological Diversity was Canada. Under this convention, steps have been taken by Canadian governments to secure almost 10 percent of the land mass of Canada and 3 million acres of shore.
A number of waste management conventions have since been signed by Canada, including the Stockholm Convention on Residual Organic Contaminants and the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Clearance of Certain Toxic Chemicals.
Canada is also a member of large international environmental bodies, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Environmental Co-operation Committee of North America.
Clean Technology in Canada
Although Canada’s clean technology sector is growing every year, the industry is not increasing as rapidly as other nations, putting the country on the global market. Of the 25 biggest exporters, Canada ranks 16th, with China, Germany and the United States as the three largest exporters. $1.8 billion has been spent in renewable energy by the federal government, but some of the funding will not be available until 2019. (Owens, 2017)
Canada ‘s share of the international renewable energy market plummeted 41 cents between 2005 and 2013, according to a 2015 survey by consulting company Analytica Advisors. In 2015, the industry had revenue of $13.27 billion, but for the last time per year, residual profits dropped. For 5 years. (Najjar, 2018).
Celine Bak, CEO of Analytica Advisors, said the leading clean technology countries are adopting a more systemic approach that goes beyond start-up funding. A comprehensive renewable energy funding policy has been proposed by the Canadian government, part of which would go to the non-profit Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).
Canada: Environmental Issues, Politics and Clean Technology
For Canada’s energy needs, coal mines are significant. In 2005, 67.3 million tonnes of coal was produced by Canada, of which 56 million tonnes were used for energy purposes. On the doorstep of the Arctic Pole, Canada is mindful of the issues that may be exacerbated by climate change. It is working globally to persuade other nations to slow down the impact of this problem. (Yearley, 2014).
SDC has three independent assets. Since 2001 , the government of Canada has given a total of US$ 965 million to the SD Tech Fund to invest in air quality, climate change, soil quality and water quality programmes. A derivative of the SD Development Fund, the SD Natural Gas Fund funds the development and implementation of emerging downstream natural gas technology. On a demonstration scale, the NextGen Biofuels Fund funds the development of renewable fuel plants. The fund will continue to run until September 30, 2027, even though it no longer receives applications. (Owens, 2017)
Government spending seems to be paying off, and Analytica Advisors figured Canada was the fastest growing nation in the pure technology sector. One firm, Alter NRG, designs technologies for waste energy that turn solid waste into electricity-producing power.
CarbonCure, another firm, has created a method that recovers emissions of carbon dioxide from concrete manufacturing, which accounts for more than 5% of all global emissions. Hydrostor is a company based in Canada that can store electrical energy in the form of compressed air that, when necessary, can be used. (Opara, 2017).
Secretary Bains revealed a $26.3 million clean technology commitment at the SDTC Cleantech Leadership Summit in May. The investment will be shared into four new firms, which will be supported by over 300 existing companies in which SDTC has invested since 2001. D-Wave, MEG Technology, MineSense and Ionomer are projected to provide many sectors with environmental advantages and show the devotion of our government to helping corporations grow and succeed internationally, says Leah Lawrence, SDTC President and CEO.
A Clean Future?
The clean future of Canada is highly based on how the nation controls its massive and rising fossil fuels. A big cause of Canadian capital is these sectors. Huge pollutants, however, are correlated with them.
Canada is basically in the forefront of climate change and is likely to continue to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by eliminating vast volumes of carbon from the planet that produces emissions.
References;
- Fraser, Gail S., and Vincent Racine. “An evaluation of oil spill responses for offshore oil production projects in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: Implications for seabird conservation.” Marine pollution bulletin 107, no. 1 (2016): 36-45.
- Najjar, Nouri, and Jevan Cherniwchan. “Environmental Regulations and the Clean-Up of Manufacturing: Plant-Level Evidence From Canada.” University of Alberta School of Business Research Paper 2018-701 (2018).
- Opara, Michael, Fathi Elloumi, Oliver Okafor, and Hussein Warsame. “Effects of the institutional environment on public-private partnership (P3) projects: Evidence from Canada.” In Accounting Forum, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 77-95. No longer published by Elsevier, 2017.
- Owens, E. H., H. C. Dubach, G. A. Sergy, P. D. Reimer, P. Lambert, and S. LaForest. “Environment Canada SCAT Manual 3rd Edition: What’s New in SCAT?.” In International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings, vol. 2017, no. 1, pp. 2660-2673. International Oil Spill Conference, 2017.
- Pineau, Pierre-Olivier. “Integrating electricity sectors in Canada: Good for the environment and for the economy.” The Federal Idea (2012): 1-25.
- Sambaraju, Kishan R., Allan L. Carroll, Jun Zhu, Kerstin Stahl, R. Dan Moore, and Brian H. Aukema. “Climate change could alter the distribution of mountain pine beetle outbreaks in western Canada.” Ecography 35, no. 3 (2012): 211-223.
- Yearley, Steven. The Green Case (Routledge Revivals): A Sociology of Environmental Issues, Arguments and Politics. Routledge, 2014.