Minister Steven Guilbeault on reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector
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Summary
Learn English with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers an important announcement on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector in Canada and the United States, which could have a major impact on our efforts to fight climate change.
Transcript
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I'm honoured to be here to share with you a very promising announcement from the Government of Canada.
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But first, let me tell you about a company from my hometown, Montreal, called J.H.G.Sat.
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Founded in 2011 by Stéphane Germain, the company was recently featured on the cover of Time magazine
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for its groundbreaking work in monitoring methane emissions from space.
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Like me, Stéphane began his career as a passionate environmentalist.
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While I focus on environmental activist and now politics, Stéphane dreamed of innovation.
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J.H.G.Sat is the only private company or space agency capable of attributing methane emissions to individual installations.
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This is a real source of national pride, but also it shows that innovation is essential.
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Today's announcement is the result of strong collaboration between the federal government,
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provincial and territorial government, as well as indigenous communities and Canadian industries.
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It's also the fruit of ongoing cooperation with partners like the United States
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who understand that by tackling methane emissions, we're activating one of the most powerful levers we have against climate change.
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Canada and the U.S. were the first countries to establish national regulations on methane in the oil and gas sector.
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And here at COP28, just two days ago, the U.S. EPA announced changes to methane regulations.
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It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of proposed amendments to our national regulations,
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These amendments will enable us to meet our targets for the Global Methane Pledge.
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Before I begin, I just want to offer a bit of history.
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In 2018, the Government of Canada published our first methane regulations for the oil and gas sector,
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which aim to reduce these emissions by 40% to 45% by 2025 from 2012 levels.
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To achieve that goal, we work with three of our most implicated provinces to develop agreements
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where the federal regulations could stand down in favour of provincial rules that align with those federal goals.
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It gives me great pleasure to say that we're on track to surpass our goal ahead of schedule.
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So today's announcement builds on past success.
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I'm very happy to announce the release of even more ambitious draft methane regulations
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for Canada's oil and gas sector, consistent with the International Energy Agency's recommendation.
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We're now aiming for at least 75% reduction for the oil and gas sector by 2030 in Canada.
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The accuracy and understanding of how much and where methane is emitted and that is reported properly
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To address this, the Government of Canada will also be announcing $30 million to establish a methane centre of excellency
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to improve our understanding and reporting of methane emissions
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with a focus on collaborative initiatives to support data and measurement.
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Our approach is in step with what our neighbours in the South are doing.
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We're broadening the scope to include a wider set of sources,
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from the point of natural gas out of the ground to where it enters the pipeline that brings it to the market.
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We're eliminating most exclusions from the existing regulations.
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This means that virtually all of Canadian facilities handling natural gas will be covered.
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The goal is to eliminate the escape of methane during production, from venting or routine flaring.
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We're also establishing new performance standards for leak detection and repair,
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And we're addressing problems such as blowdowns and other potential large methane releases.
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All this while ensuring the energy industry, both in Canada and the U.S., remains competitive on the world markets.
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Not only can methane emissions be captured and achieved at a low cost for the oil and gas companies,
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but that captured methane can then be sold or used as a source of energy.
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We're all in this together, and I want to highlight the collaboration and ambition we're seeing from Canadian provinces and territories,
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as well as from Canadian oil and gas companies, to tackle the methane emissions.
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Twelve major Canadian firms have already committed to lowering their methane emissions to near zero by 2030.
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And as of Saturday, they've been joined by 50 oil companies, representing nearly half of global production,
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that have pledged to reach near zero methane emissions and end routine flaring in their operations by 2030.
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They understand the need to become among the cleanest producers in the world to compete in a decarbonizing global economy.
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They see the new business opportunities arising from Canada's cleantech sector,
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which offers affordable solutions to the globe's oil and gas producers for methane abatement.
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They also know that reducing methane emissions is the right thing to do,
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because it's critically important in our efforts to fight climate change.
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Over the next few years, our methane regulations should result in an estimated $12 billion in avoided damages globally,
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not to mention the huge benefits on air quality and population health.
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Canada is also working to advance methane reduction and carbon capture in the agricultural sector,
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and we're developing regulations aimed at reducing landfill methane emissions by 50% by 2030 from 2019 levels.
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So I'm encouraged by the global collective progress towards achieving the Global Methane Pledge.
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2023 has been a big year for action in methane in Canada and around the world,
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and we will continue working with all countries to reach and even exceed our shared goals.
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Colleagues, this is one of the biggest opportunities that we have to act quickly on climate.