Saving lives, delivering value: economic and health co-benefits of a fair oil and gas emissions cap

This briefing by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) argues that implementing a federal emissions cap on the oil and gas sector would significantly reduce air pollution, prevent thousands of premature deaths, and provide substantial economic benefits to Canada.

• Implementing an emissions cap on the oil and gas sector aligned with Canada's whole-of-economy target—a 45% reduction below 2005 levels by 2030—could prevent approximately 4,860 premature deaths between 2030 and 2040. This reduction in mortality alone is estimated to provide an economic benefit of CAD $45.1 billion, which the report equates to the cost of building 37 new hospitals or renovating 320 emergency rooms.
• Oil and gas production was Canada's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, representing 28% of total national emissions. While other sectors like electricity reduced emissions, absolute emissions from oil and gas grew by 5% between 2005 and 2020.
• The oil and gas industry releases pollutants including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and volatile organic compounds that form ozone. A 45% emissions cap is projected to reduce 2030 levels of NO2 by 0.14 ppb, PM2.5 by 0.02 μg/m3, annual ozone by 1.06 ppb, and summer ozone by 1.16 ppb, avoiding 462 deaths in that year alone.
• Beyond premature mortality, air pollution from fossil fuels causes non-fatal health issues including asthma, cardiac disease, dementia, and low birth weight. In 2016, the total economic cost of fatal and non-fatal health outcomes from respiratory diseases linked to all air pollution was $120 billion annually, or 6% of Canada's real GDP.
• The Canadian government has failed to fulfill a promise made in 2009 to conduct an independent baseline health study for communities near the oil sands, specifically in Fort Chipewyan, where the Alberta Cancer Board previously found higher-than-expected rates of blood, lymphatic system, biliary tract, and soft tissue cancers.
• CAPE advocates for Canada to commission a national geographic study on the health costs of oil and gas air pollution, citing a 2023 U.S. study that found such pollution cost the U.S. USD $77 billion per year in 2016 and caused 7,500 excess deaths.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (2023). Saving lives, delivering value: economic and health co-benefits of a fair oil and gas emissions cap. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Health-benefits-of-fair-oil-and-gas-emissions-cap-briefer.pdf

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Saving lives, delivering value: economic and health co-benefits of a fair oil and gas emissions cap. 2023. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Health-benefits-of-fair-oil-and-gas-emissions-cap-briefer.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=Saving lives, delivering value: economic and health co-benefits of a fair oil and gas emissions cap |date=December 2023 |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Health-benefits-of-fair-oil-and-gas-emissions-cap-briefer.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironment2023saving, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{Saving lives, delivering value: economic and health co-benefits of a fair oil and gas emissions cap}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Health-benefits-of-fair-oil-and-gas-emissions-cap-briefer.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }