Emissions up in Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area as reliance on gas power deepens: report

The increased use of natural gas to power the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is "undermining" efforts to cut into carbon emissions, according to a new report.

The increased use of natural gas to power the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is “undermining” efforts to cut into carbon emissions, according to a new report looking at the area’s planet-warming pollution.

The Atmospheric Fund, a regional climate agency, says emissions were up by one per cent in 2024, slower growth than previous years but well off the 11 per cent annual cuts the report says would be required to hit the region’s 2030 climate targets.

The report says electricity emissions were up 28 per cent — outpacing the two per cent demand increase — as a “direct consequence” of Ontario’s increasing reliance on natural gas to power the energy grid, which is expected to deepen over the next decade.

Buildings and transportation remain the two highest-emitting sectors across most of the GTHA, with the exception of Hamilton where steel manufacturing makes the industrial sector that city’s largest contributor.

Per-capita emissions dropped by around three per cent despite the area adding about 300,000 new residents, which the report calls a sign that some climate actions are delivering results.

The report notes governments have made good progress on home retrofit programs and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, underlining Toronto’s recent milestone of 100 electric buses in its transit fleet.

The GTHA covers Toronto and Hamilton, along with the surrounding regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel and York.

Last year, 16 per cent of Ontario’s energy grid was powered by natural gas, making it 84 per cent emissions free — down from 87 per cent the year before and a high of 96 per cent in 2017, according to the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator.