OTTAWA — A new federal report on Canada’s greenhouse-gas emissions shows they soared 15 million tonnes in 2018.

Most countries file their accountings for emissions with the United Nations every April but the data are always two years behind.

Canada’s latest report shows in 2018 Canada’s total emissions count was 729 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and its equivalents.

That is up from 714 million tonnes a year earlier and is just shy of the 730 million tonnes Canada emitted in 2005.

Canada’s current international commitment is to cut emissions to be 70 per cent of what they were in 2005 by 2030.

Two-thirds of the increase comes from road transportation, oil and gas extraction and manufacturing, whose additional emissions were offset by a significant drop in emissions coming from cutting back on how much coal Canada uses to produce electricity.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2020.

The Canadian Press