The Boreal forest facing the oil giants
Alberta's boreal forest is home to a treasure it could have done without: the oil sands. These oil products are a solidified mixture of oil, sand, clay and water. The boreal forest of Alberta is home to the world's largest oil sands operation, just below the surface. In order to extract it, the vegetation must first be cut down to clear the exploitable surface, which will then be dug. This exploitation destroys in depth these virgin ecosystems. This 5,000 year old forest plays a crucial role: it shelters considerable reserves of fresh water and fragile ecosystems, such as peat bogs, wetlands resulting from thousands of years of accumulation of organic matter, and which would be unable to revive after such a disturbance.
Finally, the transportation of this black gold is also a source of controversy. Among the 840,000 km of pipelines that cross Canada to transport oil and natural gas, one in particular is controversial: the Trans Mountain pipeline. Since 1953, it has been delivering up to 300,000 barrels of oil every day from Alberta to British Columbia. The announcement of a project to expand the Trans Mountain system in 2013 raised the ire of environmentalists and indigenous peoples. They have bitter memories of the pipeline's past failures, including numerous leaks of hundreds of thousands of liters of oil, which over the years have deeply disturbed the environment. This is not the first time a pipeline project has been the subject of debate. The U.S.-Canada Keystone XL pipeline was a controversial project for several years, until U.S. President Joe Biden announced that it would be banned in 2021.
Environmental policy
Both the Conservatives and the Liberals often accuse Canada's environmental policy of being inactive. For example, while the country was a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it actually increased them by 25% between 1990 and 2005!
The Conservative party, having been in power from 2006 to 2015, has a very mixed record. Its inaction was ironically rewarded in 2009, when the environmental NGO network Climate Action Network gave Canada the Fossil of the Day Award: a satirical prize for the countries that slow down the climate negotiations the most. Conservative Prime Minister Harper even went so far as to make his country the first to leave the Kyoto Protocol, in 2011.
While hopes have been rekindled with the election of Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party, environmentalists seem disappointed. Despite many environmental promises (to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and to achieve zero emissions by 2050), the new Prime Minister is steadfast in his support for the oil industry, to the point of nationalizing the Trans Moutain pipeline for C$4.5 billion to ensure that its expansion is completed. To defend himself, he announced that the profits would be used to protect the environment: an argument that angered environmentalists. During Trudeau's mandate, the farming of transgenic salmon will also have been authorized.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. In 2022, Justin Trudeau has announced a ban on single-use plastics, and released $9 billion in investments for the environment, which will be used for various measures, including renewable energy and electric cars. Canada is committed to electric vehicles, to the point of announcing that by 2035 it will require that all cars sold be emission-free. In addition to this, the investment will be in net zero emission buildings, and solar and wind power projects.
Energy in Canada
With its rich landscape and resources, Canada has many sources of energy, making it the sixth largest producer of energy in the world, but fourth when it comes to renewable sources. A rare and significant feature is that the majority (67%) of its electricity consumption comes from renewable sources, thanks to an impressive hydroelectric fleet. This makes Canada the second largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world. However, this source of energy depends on each province's river system, so the provinces are quite unequal in their production, with Quebec well ahead.
The greenest city in the world?
After his election as Mayor of Vancouver in 2008, Gregor Robertson made a promise: by 2020, his city would be the greenest in the world! Ten years later, the city has achieved only 8 of its 18 goals... and has not been ranked the greenest city in the world. However, the program is far from being a failure, since even without having crossed the finish line, the progress made is significant. For example, newly constructed buildings now consume 50% less energy than those already in place. Bicycle paths have been significantly extended, from nearly 1,800 km to nearly 4,700 km by the end of the project. As a result, by increasing the number of trips made on foot, by bicycle or by public transport from 40% to 54%, the city has reached its objective of 50% of trips made without a car. The goal of reducing the average distance that Vancouverites drive by 20% has been surpassed by a wide margin, with a 37% reduction!
Other results are less impressive, but still worth noting, such as the 9% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, against a 30% target.
A rich and threatened biodiversity
Along its nearly 10 million km2, Canada is home to an extremely rich biodiversity and many biomes. However, this biodiversity is subject to many threats, starting with the destruction of environments. With 1 million square kilometers of intact forest, i.e. neither fragmented nor degraded, razed between 2000 and 2013, Canada is even the country with the highest rate of deforestation of intact forest. However, this figure must be put into context largely due to the size of the second largest country in the world. Indeed, on a national scale, Canada has lost 7.8% of its intact forest in the same period, a figure below the world average.
Despite this, this destruction of habitats, coupled with the use of pesticides, the introduction of invasive exotic species, overfishing, hunting and pollution is causing a slaughter among wildlife. Since 2003, the number of endangered species in the country has risen from 233 to 800.
Dangerous heat
Like many countries around the world, Canada is experiencing increasingly long and intense heat waves. In 2021, a historic heat wave swept across the country, particularly in the west, with a new national temperature record of 49.6°C recorded in British Columbia. These frightening temperatures will have triggered several hundred fires, particularly in this state.
If studies have immediately proven the link between the heat wave and global warming, it is far from being the only consequence. Indeed, Canada, because of its position in the north of the globe, is particularly affected, and is warming twice as fast as elsewhere. Thus, the glaciers, numerous in the north of the country, are melting at an impressive speed. They are even liquefying seven times faster than they were 20 years ago, according to a 2022 study by the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). This raises fears for the permafrost in the Mackenzie Valley, which has been warming by 0.2°C per year since 1980.
National parks
With 42 national parks, Canada has a long tradition of protected areas: the first one dates back to 1885! It is the Banff National Park, located in the Rockies. Remarkable for its relief punctuated by mountain lakes, it is of high ecological importance, since it shelters several glaciers, coniferous forests, and fascinating animals, such as the elk(Cervus canadensis) or the Rocky Mountain marmot(Marmota caligata).
Although Banff is the most visited park in the country, it is not the largest. This record is held by Wood Buffalo National Park and its 45 000 km2 of surface: more than Switzerland! As its name suggests, it was created in 1922 to protect the American bison(Bison bison), of which it is now home to the largest wild herd. More than half of the Canadian bison are affected by tuberculosis and bovine brucellosis: two diseases transmitted by cattle from Europe. Their population is therefore fragile and it is all the more essential to protect them. Finally, the park is also one of only two nesting sites for the whooping crane(Grus americana), the largest bird in North America, which is threatened with extinction.
La Mauricie National Park in Quebec is mainly covered by forest. Of the 440 species of vascular plants that thrive here, 70 are rare. The forest is also home to endangered animal species, such as the little brown bat(Myotis lucifugus), which is in danger of extinction.
In addition to the national parks, there are four marine protected areas of great importance. Canada's marine life is particularly vulnerable and protection is essential. The Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area, announced in 2019, is the latest, although it still awaits a final legal framework. It covers 320,000 km2, making it by far the largest Canadian marine area. One of the purposes of this protected area is to study the thick pack ice of the high Arctic and its response to global warming. Regulations strictly protect the park's wildlife, such as polar bears(Ursus maritimus), walruses(Odobenus rosmarus) and bearded seals(Erignathus barbatus). Inuit peoples, however, have an exception and can, according to the signed agreement, "collect wildlife".
