Sask. falling short on fighting climate change: report

Saskatchewan has been called out for falling short in several areas when it comes to fighting climate change.

That's according to a cross-country report from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada on government response to climate change, which was released Tuesday and prepared jointly by federal Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand and auditors general from nine provinces.

The general consensus of the report is that there is no consistent method between provinces to measure and report on greenhouse gas emissions. This makes it difficult for Canada to report on its pledge to reduce emissions by at least 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Deficiencies in strategy

Of the 12 provinces and territories that were part of the report, seven — including Saskatchewan — did not have a target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

The plans of eight provinces and territories did not include details such as timelines, detailed implementation plans, and cost estimates, the report said.

Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, however, did not have a strategy, according to the report.

Saskatchewan's government is still refusing to sign the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, intended to provide a national plan to meet Canada's 2030 emission reduction target.

At the time of the report, the province's Ministry of Environment also had not completed an assessment related to climate change risks, as it was in the process of gathering information from other government agencies.

The report did acknowledge, though, that Saskatchewan was developing policies related to cutting emissions "using the direction set in the government's October 2016 Climate Change White Paper."

Reporting on progress

Saskatchewan doesn't publish findings on its own emissions because the province relies on the numbers from the federal report.

Only six out of 12 provinces and territories are reporting regularly to the public on emissions.

Relative to the emission numbers in 1990, Saskatchewan's have increased by over 50 per cent.

The economic sectors that were the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Saskatchewan were the oil and gas, agriculture and electricity sectors, according to the report.