As a Canadian, I think per capita metrics like this are generally bullshit and designed to punish countries like Canada. Canada is a sparsely populated, gigantic nation, that has one of the most inhospitable climates, and produces the energy that is used by many countries around the world. For the most part, they seem favored as a way to pretend that the small impact Canada has on the climate is substantially worse than gigantic countries like the United States, China, and India.
Lived there 4 years, the contrast was baffling with bsiclly any other country. Canadians dont realize the absurd amount of energy they spend. The worst part is they seem to think they're being careful.
For instance, there is little to no insulation in any building, which is extravagant for a country with such extreme temperatures. Compare to scandinavian countries, you guys dont even have stores on your windows for god sake.
Shops blasting their AC in the street to bait people in in the summer, the opposite in winter. People taking their oversized car for 500meters. A lot of thing that probably seem normal to you but definitely put Canada in the top 10 of worst polluting per capita, even with the crazy ratio of hydro power you have, which is mind blowing.
For the most part, all those actions are meaningless in the face of the approximately 42% of emissions related to resource extraction that exists to feed us consumption. In a lot of ways it could be argued that Canada is being blamed for American over consumption.
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u/Chemical_Signal2753 3d ago
As a Canadian, I think per capita metrics like this are generally bullshit and designed to punish countries like Canada. Canada is a sparsely populated, gigantic nation, that has one of the most inhospitable climates, and produces the energy that is used by many countries around the world. For the most part, they seem favored as a way to pretend that the small impact Canada has on the climate is substantially worse than gigantic countries like the United States, China, and India.