This project, called Bay du Nord and supported for years by the Norwegian giant Equinor, will make it possible to exploit an oil field at a depth of more than one kilometer 500 kilometers off the coast of the province of Newfoundland.

The commissioning of the project is scheduled for 2028.

It will be the fifth oil rig of its kind in Canada and will allow the extraction of approximately 300 million barrels of oil over 30 years, according to the company.

"The Bay du Nord development project can proceed, subject to some of the most stringent environmental conditions ever imposed, including the historic requirement for an oil and gas project to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050", declared, by press release, the minister and ex-activist for the climate.

According to a comprehensive environmental assessment, the project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects, he added.

"The world still needs oil," then told Radio Canada the man who had been chosen for the portfolio of Minister of the Environment last October by Justin Trudeau for his past as an activist.

sharp criticism

The announcement immediately provoked an outcry from environmental groups.

“Approving Bay du Nord is another step towards an unlivable future,” said Julia Levin of Environmental Defence, and a “slap in the face for climatologists, communities in Canada and around the world affected by the climate crisis”.

For Greenpeace, this decision is the "triumph" of policies that only "aggravate the climate crisis and the global dependence on fossil fuels which burn the planet".

These organizations recall that the UN Secretary General has described as "madness" the persistent dependence on fossil fuels, an "addiction that is leading us towards collective destruction".

According to the latest report by UN climate experts (IPCC), to respect a rise in temperatures of +1.5°C, the use of coal without carbon capture (a technology that is not mature on a large scale) should be totally stopped and those of oil and gas reduced by 60% and 70%, respectively, by 2050 compared to 2019 levels.

Several political parties have also denounced this decision of the Canadian government, in particular the New Democratic Party (NDP, left), allied to the parliament of the Liberals of Justin Trudeau.

"It shows exactly what is wrong with this government. They are listening to their oil and gas buddies instead of listening to climate experts," said Laurel Collins, NDP Environment Critic.

As for the Bloc Québécois, the 3rd parliamentary party, it believes that Canada "confirms its dunce position in the fight against climate change" and that this decision "sounds the death knell for the credibility" of the Minister of the Environment.

The dilemma was such on this project that the decision has been postponed twice in recent months, especially since Justin Trudeau has often been criticized in recent years for his decisions related to the oil sector, in particular for having nationalized an oil pipeline in 2018.

He had made strong climate commitments during the last election campaign and said last October that we must "make sure that the oil and gas industry stops increasing its emissions and starts reducing them".

© 2022 AFP