Article content

Canada has pledged to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by about a third by 2030, partly by introducing new regulations on its oil and gas sector.

Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced the new pledge Friday in Winnipeg, ahead of a UN climate summit in December. Canada will cut its emissions to 515 metric megatons by 2030, Aglukkaq said. The country isn’t on pace to meet its previous goal and projects emissions to grow — not shrink — over the next five years.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Tories set ambitious new greenhouse gas emission target: One-third reduction by 2030 Back to video

Emissions were 726 megatons in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, and government figures show emissions are set to grow leading up to 2020. Canada is in effect pledging to cut emissions by 29 per cent between 2013 and 2030, based on Bloomberg calculations on government data.

To meet the new target, Canada “intends to develop” regulations to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, in tandem with U.S. regulations, Aglukkaq said. Canada will also introduce regulations on emissions from natural gas electrical plants, her department said in a news release, though it did not specify what those would include.