Canada’s economy and the lives of Canadians are highly reliant on the materials and products produced by the chemical and fertilizer industry. In 2020, Canada’s chemical and fertilizer sector produced 21 Mt of GHGs, making it by far the largest emitter of the heavy industries—and nearly on par with steel and cement combined.
Currently, Canada does not have a net-zero pathway for chemicals and fertilizers (unlike cement, for example), nor is there an overarching government decarbonization strategy for heavy industry as exists in some other jurisdictions.
As Clean Energy Canada’s white paper illustrates, chemical products have a key role in many low-carbon technologies utilized throughout the economy, while decarbonizing Canada’s chemicals and fertilizer sector will be crucial to meeting our national emissions targets.
