Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna. will be receiving this report. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood

The Lead:

A report submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change suggests that Canada is not on pace to meet its Paris climate targets, despite moderate reductions in greenhouse gas output.

Environment and Climate Change Canada expects greenhouse gas emissions to fall to 583 megatonnes by 2030, about a one-third drop from 2015 levels. The prediction “puts Canada out of reach of its stated target” of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 517 megatonnes over the same time period, the Financial Post reports.

In Canada:

Alberta has brought eight charges against Nexen Energy “after two workers died in an explosion at its Long Lake oil sands plant in early 2016,” Reuters reports. The charges pertain to worker health and safety provisions and equipment upkeep. Nexen could have to pay up to $500,000 for each count and certain individuals could face jail time. It’s not clear which Nexen employees may face punishment.

Several Canadian miners are boosting their cobalt operations, betting that socially-responsible cobalt will be in high demand thanks to the coming electric vehicle boom. Most of the world’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo and China, but those supplies are increasingly threatened by “political, legal, and labor issues,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Canada is the third largest producer of cobalt and is uniquely poised to supply the world with ethically-sourced cobalt. Fundraising and exploratory drilling are mainly being led by Vale, a Canadian mining company with a cobalt operation in Sudbury, Ontario.

Internationally:

Gold rallied 14 per cent in 2017, the largest improvement since 2010. A weakening dollar and international political tensions have contributed to the increase, even as interest rates rise, the Wall Street Journal reports. When interest rates rise, gold struggles to compete against yield-bearing assets, but the price of gold reached $1,312.03 Tuesday morning despite three interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve in 2017.

The availability of bioplastics has reduced demand for oil-based plastics, as a projected 50 per cent rise in the use of bioplastics by 2022 threatens to further erode the need for oil-based products, according to the European Bioplastics Association. The association announced that its members will use sugar cane, wood and corn to produce bioplastics for large consumers like Coca-Cola Co. and Legos A/S, reports Bloomberg.

Oil prices have achieved their strongest year opening since 2014 amid OPEC-led supply cuts and anti-government protests in Iran, Reuters reports. “Geopolitical risks are clearly back on the crude oil agenda after having been absent almost entirely since the oil market ran into a surplus in the second half of 2014,” Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB said, speaking on the situation in Iran, Kurdistan and Libya.

Brent Crude was at US$66.56 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was at US$60.18.

Noteworthy:

In Opinion:

TransCanada has gone silent on Keystone XL amid waning American support for the pipeline that would cross five states, Paul Koring writes in iPolitics.

Electric cars could drive the next commodity supercycle while contributing to major increases in lithium, cobalt and base metal prices, writes the Financial Post.