Oil and gas production hikes and rebounding air travel put a drag on Canada's climate progress last year, but a new report says the country was still able to make a modest cut to its planet-warming emissions.

Canada's carbon emissions declined slightly in 2023 from the previous year but need to fall much faster to meet Ottawa's 2030 climate target, the Canadian Climate Institute think-tank said on Thursday.

New estimates published by a leading climate policy institute show Canada cut emissions by about one per cent last year compared to 2022, or eight per cent since 2005.