A new British study in the “Nature” journal suggests that 85% of Canada’s oilsands would need to be left underground if the world ever got serious about climate change.
The study titled ‘The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2 C,’ looked into each countries fossil fuel reserves and how much would be able to be burned while keeping global temperature increases under two degrees Celsius.
195 of the worlds countries, including Canada, have committed to keeping global temperatures below that mark as part of the International Panel on Climate Change.
The oilsands would need to produce no more than 7.5 billion barrels of oil by 2050 for the world to have a realistic chance of meeting its goal.
According to the study no countries Arctic resources would be able to be developed.
One quarter of Canada’s natural gas reserves and four-fifths of its coal reserves would also need to be left untouched.
