Wildfire emissions should be counted in GHG totals

Through fire and flames, June 6

The harm caused by this spring’s wildfires — evacuations, ill health, lost property, economic damage — is vast. Wildfires also cause massive greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) — 270 million tonnes from Canada’s so-called managed forest in 2021, equal to 40 per cent of Canada’s total reported emissions.

In contrast to many other countries, the feds don’t count these wildfire emissions in Canada’s GHG totals, because such fires are not considered to be directly human-caused. That’s concerning, because there is widespread evidence that human-driven climate change is exacerbating the frequency and severity of fires.

The federal government has been criticized for not transparently reporting GHG emissions from industrial logging, which its own numbers indicate were more than 70 million tonnes in 2021.

It’s time for the government of Canada to take responsibility for the massive carbon pollution being caused by both industrial logging and wildfires, and to put in place a comprehensive strategy to reduce these emissions.

Michael Polanyi

Nature Canada, Ottawa