Canada's Official Figures Underestimate Carbon Impact Of Boreal Forest Logging By 80 Megatons
The annual carbon pollution from Canada’s logging sector is at least 80 megatonnes higher than what the industry reports, according to new research published on Thursday by Environmental Defence Canada, Nature Canada, Nature Québec and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The report, entitled “Missing the Forest: How carbon loopholes for logging hinder Canada’s climate leadership,” identified the undercounted emissions from logging practices in Canada’s boreal forest, which the report notes is “the world’s most carbon-dense terrestrial ecosystem.”
“While Canada has made leading commitments to a broad portfolio of natural climate solutions, the logging industry continues to clearcut more than 400,000 hectares of the boreal each year — about five NHL hockey rinks every minute — much of this in irreplaceable primary forests, which have not been previously impacted by human disturbance, the report states. Eighty megatonnes is equivalent to the annual emissions from all the buildings in Canada, or the annual emissions of 17.4 million passenger vehicles.
The report’s co-authors, Jennifer Skene and Michael Polanyi, said the federal government has created accounting and regulatory loopholes that are responsible for the massive underestimates of industry’s carbon footprint. “The Government of Canada has drawn a curtain over the logging industry’s carbon emissions, allowing the sector to escape scrutiny for its substantial climate impact,” Skene, natural climate solutions policy manager for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said during a press conference Thursday.
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https://thenarwhal.ca/canada-emissions-boreal-logging/