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Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced the new target Friday in Winnipeg, ahead of a UN climate summit in December. In effect, Canada pledged to reduce its emissions to an estimated 515 metric megatons by 2030, partly by introducing new regulations on its oil and gas sector. The country isn’t on pace to meet its previous goal, and predicts emissions will grow — not shrink — over the next five years.

Emissions were 726 megatons in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, and government figures show emissions are set to grow leading up to 2020. Canada now plans to cut emissions by 29 per cent between 2013 and 2030, based on Bloomberg calculations using public data.

To meet the new target, Canada “intends to develop” regulations to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, in tandem with US regulations, Aglukkaq said. Canada will also introduce regulations on emissions from natural gas electrical plants, her department said in a news release without specifying what the rules would include.

The government offered no projections of what reduction in emissions the new measures would produce, or how soon the new initiatives would be introduced.

Australia is yet to reveal its post-2020 emissions plans with the Abbott government expect to reveal its goals next month.

Copenhagen pledge

Under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, Canada pledged to cut emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020, or to 611 megatons, but is on pace to fall well short of its goal. Environment Canada figures show Canada’s emissions are projected to increase between 2015 and 2020, when they are projected to reach 727 megatons.

That means Canada’s Copenhagen pledge was to reduce emissions by 125 megatons between 2005 and 2020, whereas Canada is only on pace to cut them by nine megatons……

The US has pledged to cut emissions by at least 26 per cent from 2005 levels by 2025 — a lower target with a more aggressive timeframe. Mexico has pledged to cut emissions by 25 per cent by 2030, though its per-capita emissions are already 74 per cent lower than Canada’s, according to World Bank emissions data. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/paris-2015-canada-aims-to-cut-emissions-by-30-per-cent-by-2030-20150515-gh311n.html