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Kyoto and Beyond
The Low-Emission Path to Innovation and Efficiency

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Canadians will pocket $200 billion in energy savings by 2030 if Ottawa meets and exceeds the Kyoto Protocol's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, says a new study from the David Suzuki Foundation and the Climate Action Network of Canada.

"It's a straightforward approach that is based on existing technologies and practical, proven energy efficiency techniques," said Ralph Torrie, the report's author and one of Canada's leading sustainable energy experts. "It includes retrofitting buildings, using alternative forms of energy and improving public transportation. Taking these steps would move Canada beyond the modest Kyoto target of reducing emission six per cent below 1990 levels. In fact, it puts us on a path to cutting our emissions in half."

Mr. Torrie's analysis outlines how energy efficiency in Canada is actually the country's most important 'source' of new energy - efficiency gains provided more new energy than all other sources combined from 1975 to 1998. New energy efficiencies have resulted in the creation of better homes, better appliances and better office machines for Canadians, with consumer savings totaling more than $50 billion since 1975.

Kyoto and Beyond examines the role of several sectors, such as transportation and buildings, and proposes long-term emission reduction strategies for each sector using proven, available technologies. These strategies generally take two forms: either they reduce the overall demand for energy, or they substitute low- or zero-emissions technologies for processes that now use coal or oil.

The report concludes these practical, affordable strategies would reduce Canadian emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, while meeting our Kyoto targets in 2012. At the same time, the country would enjoy the benefits of innovation, employment growth, widespread economic activity, less air pollution and smog, and improved health.


Kyoto and Beyond: The Low-Emission Path to Innovation and Efficiency Highlights

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will have many economic benefits in Canada, including innovation, employment growth and protection of natural resource industries.

How cutting emissions saves money:

• Many companies have already implemented measures to cut emissions and are making money doing it.
  
  
• Interface Inc., the world's largest producer of commercial floor coverings boasts annual sales of more than $1-billion (U.S.) while significantly cutting emissions. Interface's Canadian operations alone have reduced emissions by 65 per cent by consuming less raw material and energy and managing waste.
  
  
• In March 2002, BP, one of the largest petroleum companies in the world, announced it had reduced emissions to a level 10 per cent below that of 1990. Doing so saved the company $650 million (U.S.) by using energy more efficiently.
  
• In May 2002, the federal-provincial process on climate change released an economic analysis that shows Canada can meet the Kyoto targets with significant growth in the economy in all parts of the country, and in all sectors, including the oil and gas industry. For example, the study showed under realistic Kyoto scenarios, the Canadian economy will grow by 30.4 per cent by 2012, from $1 trillion to $1.315 trillion.
  
  
• Cutting emissions also means health care savings - the Ontario Medical Association says air pollution costs more than $1 billion a year in hospital admissions, emergency room visits and absenteeism in Ontario alone.

Why businesses should support Kyoto:

• Taking measures to boost efficiency and burn less fuel will save companies money, just as insulating a home saves on heating bills.
  
  
• Recently, both Ontario Premier Ernie Eves and former finance minister Paul Martin noted that investment in and development of new energy technologies will lead to new economic opportunities.
  
  
• The costs of inaction are high: climate change will negatively impact agriculture, forestry, fisheries, health care, tourism and community infrastructure. Discussions of the costs of action must include these costs too.

The case for a 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2030:

• If we reduce emissions by small amounts (such as the six per cent target under Kyoto), emissions will still be high enough to cause concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to keep growing rapidly. Kyoto is a good first step, but emissions need to be cut by at least 50 per cent to stabilize concentrations in the atmosphere.

How emissions can be cut by 50 per cent by 2030:

• Analytic modeling work in Kyoto and Beyond uses practical, available technologies to explain how to reduce emissions in several sectors of Canada's economy. The strategies generally take two forms: either they reduce the overall demand for energy, or they substitute low- or zero-emissions technologies for processes that now use coal or oil.
  
  
• This includes retrofitting buildings, using alternative forms of energy, improving public transportation and more efficient vehicles, appliances and industrial processes.
  
  

Click here to read the summary of Kyoto and Beyond (PDF format)


To order the bound, 129 page 'Kyoto and Beyond - The Low Emission path to Innovation and Efficiency', contact the CAN office. The price of the publication is $15.00 plus postage.