Research: Climate Justice

This paper draws on the invaluable insights of Indigenous activists, scholars, and experts to explore how implementing the UN Declaration can advance climate justice in Canada.

CPJ has long advocated for an end to federal subsidies to the fossil fuel sector. In an effort to highlight this grave inconsistency in Canadian energy and climate policy, we made fossil fuel subsidies the focus of our 2018 Give it up for the Earth! campaign.

The oil and gas sector produces more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than any other sector of the Canadian economy. Even without considering their end use for things like heating fuels or gasoline, the extraction, transportation, and refining of oil and gas contributes more than a quarter of Canada’s total emissions.

Beyond the volume of these emissions, we must also consider their carbon intensity – that is, the GHGs emitted for each unit of oil or gas produced.

When we talk about government action on climate change in Canada people often want to know, why do we put so much focus on reducing emissions from the oil and gas industry?

The oil and gas sector produces more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than any other sector of the Canadian economy.

Understanding GHG emissions can be challenging. We cannot actually see them accumulate. And they come from a variety of sources. It doesn’t help either that we usually talk about these emissions in big units which are hard to wrap our heads around. One megaton is a million tonnes.

So, to make it easier to understand we can ask: what Canadian sources are equivalent to one tonne of GHGs? How does it translate to the real world, and how do these sources contribute to overall emissions?

The effects of climate change are seen and felt around the world. However, as Canadians, we may sometimes feel removed from climate change impacts. Here are eight symptoms of climate change that are happening in Canada.

A visual explanation of the science behind the warming of the Earth due to GHG emissions.

CPJ’s infographic on why Christians are asking for a strong pan-Canadian climate plan.

CPJ’s infographic on the global climate change crisis and the need for action in Canada.

CPJ’s backgrounder on pricing carbon emissions, Carbon and the Common Good, looks at the environmental crisis from a public justice perspective. After summarizing some of the biblical principles that guide our reflection, this paper addresses one specific and complex area of debate, carbon taxes. It also lays out some positioning for the organization on this issue.