Our LNG could help the world cut CO2

Canadians need to start thinking about helping the environment on a global scale

You’ve heard the expression that when it comes to helping the environment we are to “think globally and act locally.” Well, when it comes to significantly reducing CO2 emissions, a professor from the University of British Columbia has turned that saying on its head. To paraphrase, Wenran Jiang is urging policy-makers and environmentalists to think globally and act globally.

Jiang has been touting this theory for many years and if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to actually be an environ- mental rock star — rather than just appearing to be one on the cover of The Rolling Stone — he would do well to put Jiang’s ideas to work, which would not only substantially reduce the world’s CO2 emissions but will also help boost Canada’s natural gas business, increasing well-paying jobs, boost government revenues and therefore better fund social programs Canadians covet.

“If every one of Canada’s 35 million people stopped breathing tomorrow global CO2 emissions would decrease by only 1.6 per cent of the global total,” said Jiang, who is the director of the Canada-China Energy & Environment Forum at the Institute of Asian Research at UBC. But, if Canada could assist China in reducing its enormous carbon footprint by helping it meet its stated goals of reducing its reli- ance on coal by switching over to natural gas, then that would have an appreciable impact on the world’s CO2 emissions.

Jiang says China emits 26 per cent of the world’s CO2. About 70 per cent of China’s energy mix comes from coal-fired plants, resulting in more than 80 per cent of its CO2 emissions. In early July, 13 Chinese government agencies issued an edict to increase its use of natural gas from six per cent today to 10 per cent by 2020 and 15 per cent by 2030, which will lower China’s CO2 emissions considerably as well as smog-creating air pollution when compared to coal. According to Wood Mackenzie, a global resource consultancy, natural gas demand in China will, as a result of this goal, swell from 210 billion cubic metres in 2016 to 360 billion by 2020.

In light of China’s recently stated goal, the disheartening announcement by Petronas on Tuesday to cancel its $36 billion liquefied natural gas develop-

ment in British Columbia is an even greater glaring condemnation of the anti-business market conditions our federal and provincial governments have created in Canada. Petronas is just one of several global players to walk away from Canadian energy developments because other jurisdictions have created more favourable, fast and inexpensive development conditions.

“The fundamental way we are looking at this issue is wrong,” insists Jiang of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “It should not be based on nation state emissions but on a global level.” After all, points out Jiang, it’s wealthy westerners who are consuming most of the products produced in China. Europeans, for instance, are pretty smug about reducing their carbon footprint, but all they’ve really done is move it to China and other developing nations.

“We have tunnel vision in Canada about this debate,” insists Jiang. “British Columbians don’t want to look beyond their backyard.”

Jiang says for too long, industry players and business-friendly governments like Stephen

Harper’s Conservatives argued about the monetary benefits of getting Alberta oil to tidewater in order to stop receiving discounted prices for it.

That argument is not compelling or convincing for many Canadians. “British Columbians don’t care about your province, they care about their environment, so the old market logic only convinces industry peers but it doesn’t convince the opposition to these projects.”

If the federal and provincial governments could find a way to reduce the absurd mazelike red tape in Canada — putting it on par with the United States and Australia — and reduce the recently hiked taxes on these LNG projects during this time of low prices, B.C. might be able to jump in and take advantage of China’s directive to clean up its air and carbon emissions. That way, by getting the local market conditions fixed locally Canadians could, when it comes to the environment, think globally by acting globally. All of us should get onside with this plan.

It really would help the planet.