GTHA carbon emissions increased 4.5% in 2021
A new report from The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) reveals that carbon emissions increased across all regions of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in 2021.
The report finds that emissions in the GTHA increased by 2.2 million tonnes, or 4.5% in 2021, climbing swiftly towards pre-pandemic levels. TAH says the overall trend in the data reflects little progress since 2015. It adds that the region must target annual carbon reductions of 8% to hit regional targets by 2030.
The increase was driven by rising emissions in almost every sector: natural gas used for space heating in buildings; gasoline and diesel from more kilometers traveled by car; and increased use of natural gas for electricity generation, underscoring the need for strong climate action across the board.
At 44%, buildings remain the greatest regional sources of carbon emissions. Transportation (31%), industry (20%), waste (4%), and agriculture (1%) followed.
TAH also reports that emissions from electricity rose by a staggering 28% in 2021 due to the increasing use of natural gas-powered generating plants, which increase the carbon intensity of the Ontario electricity grid overall.
Transportation emissions, meanwhile, increased by 2.3% in 2021 after a sharp pandemic-related decrease in 2020. Sectoral emissions are expected to continue to rebound in 2022.
While emissions increased across the region, there were large differences in the pace, ranging from a massive 15% increase in Halton to a modest 1.3% increase in Toronto. Collectively, the GTHA regions produced 51.2 Mt of CO emissions in 2021. Of that total, 13.5 Mt were released in Toronto, 10.5 in Peel, 10.2 in Hamilton, 6.9 in York, 5.7 in Durham, and 4.3 in Halton.
“GTHA municipalities and regions must accelerate policies, investments and engagements that support affordable, low-carbon communities,” said TAF CEO Julia Langer. “We need to break through the inertia and barriers that are paralyzing and undermining the region’s climate emergency response and tap into the many solutions available.”
TAF is a regional climate agency that invests in low-carbon solutions for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and helps scale them up for broad implementation.
Its proprietary inventory uses consistent methodology, data sources, and time frames across all six GTHA cities and regional municipalities from 2015-2021 to create a comprehensive picture of the sources and amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.