Hamilton still tops per-person carbon emissions in GTA despite pandemic slowdown
Hamilton's greenhouse gas emissions remained the highest per-person in and around the Greater Toronto Area last year - even as industrial and vehicle pollution dropped during the pandemic.
The latest carbon-tracking study from the Atmospheric Fund found emissions in the GTA and Hamilton fell 13 per cent in 2020 as a direct result of a historic reduction" in vehicle use and industrial output due to COVID-19.
But that anomaly aside, regional greenhouse gas emissions actually increased by two per cent between 2015 and 2019 - even as climate scientists urged drastic carbon-cutting actions to avert climate change catastrophe.
The pandemic response shows we can pull together and spur catalytic societywide action, but pandemics are not a climate action strategy," reads the latest report made public Monday. A massive acceleration in climate action and investment is needed to achieve a net zero future."
The report highlights a planned game-changing climate innovation" for steelmaker ArcelorMittal Dofasco in Hamilton.
Industry accounts for more than half of Hamilton's 9.4 megatonnes of emissions tracked in 2020 by the climate agency - which is why the city leads per-person emissions across the GTA every year.
Industrial emissions also represent nearly 20 per cent of all GTA greenhouse pollution.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco is Hamilton's largest industrial emitter - but the federal government recently pledged $400 million toward a company plan to end coal-fired steelmaking by 2028. That is expected to cut the city's total carbon emissions by a third.
The report also warns transportation emissions were already rising alarmingly" prior to the pandemic - and now COVID has cut transit use dramatically around the world.
The agency said that dilemma reinforces the need to both encourage more transit use - and electrify the options. Hamilton is supposed to see construction start on the city's first electric light rail transit (LRT) line in the next year or two - but the project has been repeatedly delayed or derailed.
Here's a look at carbon emissions in Hamilton (versus region) for 2020:
- Total emissions: 9.4 megatonnes (47.8 regional total)
- Per capita emissions: 16.2 tonnes (6.2 average)
- Industrial emissions: 53 per cent of total (19 per cent regionwide)
- Transportation: 16 per cent of total (32 per cent regionwide)