A tall environmental policy order for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions has been added to the requirements for oil and natural gas projects that need approval from the Canada Energy Regulator (CER).

Annual Canada Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The rule surfaced in a revised filing manual for project sponsors that the CER wrote to obey a regulatory green new deal legislated by the national Liberal government’s 2019 Impact Assessment Act.

After nearly a year of consultations with the Alberta-based Canadian fossil fuel industry, which unsuccessfully fought the act as a “no more pipelines bill,” the 284-page rulebook sets limits on the clean-up requirement.

The new filing manual stated that the net-zero standard only needs to be satisfied by projects with planned lifespans that last past a target date of 2050 in the...