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Montréal, February 18, 2020 - The IPCC is the intergovernmental panel on climate change. It is the benchmark for scientific assessments of climate change. The body is under the aegis of the UN and aims to inform, on a regular basis, the world's political class about the dangers of climate change and the strategies to be adopted.
So when the IPCC speaks, listen!
Unfortunately, Canada seems to turn a deaf ear when it comes to taking drastic measures to prevent temperatures rising above 2 degrees. One of the most recent examples of this wilful blindness is the Teck Frontier.
The Teck Frontier Project
This project, located between Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan in northeastern Alberta, consists of a mine to produce bituminous sand. This landscape scar would disfigure almost 24,000 hectares and produce 4.5 megatonnes of carbon dioxide every year. Ultimately, the facility is intended to produce approximately 260,000 barrels of oil per day, which would be transported by pipeline.
For the promoter, this project represents 7,000 temporary jobs during the construction period and 2,500 permanent jobs to maintain operations over a 41-year period. These figures also seem astonishing in view of the rapid automation of transport trucks in particular.
In financial terms, the proponent projects economic spin-offs of close to $55 billion for the Alberta provincial government. For the federal and municipal governments, the figures are $12 billion and $3.5 billion respectively.
Ce que le promoteur oublie habilement d’ajouter, c’est l’ensemble des coûts négatifs relatifs à un tel projet et qui est évidemment incombent aux gouvernements fédéral et provincial. Parmi ceux-ci, on dénote le coût du développement des camps de base qui seront nécessaires pour accueil les travailleurs. Ces derniers devront être desservis en eau de même qu’en électricité. À cela s’ajoute l’ensemble des coûts en santé causé par ces activités minières, de même que les coûts de nettoyage du site une fois la mine fermée. Il est d’ailleurs possible d’envisager que d’ici les quarante et une prochaines années, le Canada aura signé des accords contraignants au niveau de sa production de GES. Des accords de ce type pourraient forcer l’achat de crédit carbone afin de maintenir les activités de la mine. De fait, ces retombées sont à prendre avec des pincettes.
Questionable government assessments
To the eyes Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and theAlberta Energy RegulatorThis decision may seem surprising, given the information available in their evaluation report. This decision may seem surprising, given the information available in their assessment report. Indeed, according to them, the project would cause the permanent destruction of numerous habitats and wetlands that make up almost half the site. This would have a significant negative impact on the region's bison herds and caribou. An area twice the size of Vancouver Island would be subject to clear-cutting.
What's more, the panel underlines the consequences for First Nations, whose traditional way of life and associated knowledge would be threatened. Despite this, many communities have already signed agreements with the mining company. Here, it's far from a question of enthusiasm on their part; it's more a question of being able to benefit financially from a project that seems inevitable.
In any case, the economic spin-offs mentioned above would, in the eyes of the intergovernmental panel, be sufficient justification to go ahead with the project. It has to be said that the billions of dollars touted by the promoter are based on an estimate of the price of a barrel of oil at 95$. This estimate seems highly utopian, given the current price, which is more in the region of 50 dollars and has never risen above 75$ for nearly six years. Clearly, the company Teak is betting that Canada's green shift will be very timid.
GHGs: the sinews of war
According to the commitments undertaken by Canada in Paris at COP 21, Canada is limited to the production of 168 megatonnes of GHG by 2050. So to see a project producing 4.5 megatonnes of carbon dioxide a year on its own is an aberration. Mr. Trudeau's double talk can't go on. We need to take a clear stand and take concerted action to meet the greatest challenge of our time.
The project must be approved by the federal authorities by the end of the month. It is therefore essential that we voice our opposition to this project. Do not hesitate to express your opposition by e-mail to the Premier's office at https://pm.gc.ca/fr/nous-joindre/contact. You can also call Mr. Trudeau's constituency office directly at 514-277-6020. Social networks are another way to make your voice heard, via the keyword #RejectTeck.
