Nature Canada implores members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change expert panel to prioritize tackling the pervasive issue of underreported forestry emissions as they conduct their critical review of Canada’s climate plan.

Unceded Algonquin Territory — Ottawa, ON — March 22, 2024

UNFCCC experts are in Ottawa this week, reviewing Canada’s 8th National Communication and 5th Biennial report, which outlines the efforts Canada is taking to meet its 2030 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission targets.

“Canada’s climate plan will be dead on arrival until it acknowledges and addresses the significant GHG emissions released by industrial logging,” said Michael Polanyi, Policy and Campaign Manager for Nature Canada, who addressed the experts this morning in Gatineau. “We strongly encourage panel members to hold the government of Canada accountable to its climate targets by joining the call for more transparent and accurate reporting of logging emissions.”

A recent study by academics from the University of Toronto and the University of New Brunswick found that emissions from industrial logging in Canada averaged over 90 million tonnes (Mt) a year between 2005 and 2021, while the federal government has categorized logging as a carbon sink of 5 Mt in its reporting to the United Nations over that same period.

“By misclassifying logging as a carbon-neutral climate solution, the federal government is actually subsidizing, to the tune of billions of dollars a year, a high-emission sector,” said Dr. Polanyi. “Not only does that do harm to climate and biodiversity, it hinders the necessary transition of logging to a sustainable and globally competitive sector.”

Canada will submit its 2024 National GHG emissions inventory to the UN next month. Nature Canada is demanding that the report truthfully count logging emissions.

Nature Canada is Canada’s voice for nature. For 85 years, Nature Canada has helped protect nearly 144 million acres of parks and wildlife areas in Canada and countless species. Today, Nature Canada represents a network of over 250,000 members and supporters and more than 1,200 nature organizations.

For more information, contact:

Scott Mullenix
613-562-3447 ext. 230
media@naturecanada.ca