The latest report from the IPCC comes one week after the Liberal government announced their long-awaited 2030 emissions reduction plan, moving Canada one step closer to eliminating fossil fuel emissions and shifting to a greener economy.
The plan, named Canada’s Next Steps to Clean Air and a Strong Economy, presents a roadmap to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. It also includes an interim objective requiring the country to reach 20 per cent below 2005 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 2026.
For Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, the move is “positioning Canada to be a leader in the clean economy.”
“Thanks to the actions of millions of Canadians, we have flattened the curve of our pollution trajectory, and this roadmap charts the course to lowering emissions to meet our climate target of 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels,” Guilbeault said in a March 29 press release.
Canada is the fastest warming country on the planet, and the release noted that “Canada’s average temperatures are rising at twice the global average, and three times in the North.”
The emissions reductions plan includes “$9.1 billion in new investments, and reflects economy-wide measures such as carbon pricing and clean fuels…” With legislation covering “buildings to vehicles to industry and agriculture,” the plan is considered to be Canada’s most comprehensive plan to create a path to net-zero.
According to the release, The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act requires the Emissions Reduction Plan be reviewed with progress reports issued in 2023, 2025, and 2027, with additional targets and plans expected to be developed for 2035 through to 2050.
Other elements of the emissions reduction plan include a $150 million Canada Green Buildings Strategy, allocating an additional $458.5 million to the Canada Greener Homes Loan program, and expanding the Low Carbon Economy Fund by $2.2 billion.
A $180 million Indigenous Leadership Fund is also included to support climate action by Indigenous Peoples.
The country is also betting big on the switch to electric vehicles, investing $400 million in zero-emission vehicles charging stations, with an objective of adding 50,000 stations nationwide. Drivers will also be incentivized to buy electric, with a $1.7 billion extension to the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program.
A February report from the Royal Bank of Canada estimated that “the clean economy could create 235,000 and 400,000 new jobs in Canada by 2030.” The plan also noted that the green economy will contribute up to $80 billion to Canada’s GDP by 2025,” compared to $26 billion in 2016.
The plan cited a 2021 Health Canada report that looked at health impacts of air pollution in the country, which found that poor air quality costs taxpayers roughly $120 billion each year due to illness and lost productivity. Overall, the report found that air pollution “contributes to 15,300 premature deaths per year in Canada.”
“Taking real climate action that is not only ambitious, but also achievable, is key to building a strong economy in the 21st century,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a March 29 statement.
In a statement issued the same day, NDP environment critic Laurel Collins said the plan “clearly doesn’t meet the urgency of the crisis.”
“This is far from what is needed, both in terms of addressing the climate crisis and protecting workers that are impacted by it,” Collins said. “Reducing Canada’s emissions by only 40 per cent is highly inadequate and it flies in the face of most recent scientific reports that recommend Canada must do significantly more.”
NDP tables climate change bills of their own
Collins’ statement came one day after the NDP tabled two bills of their own to address the climate crisis in Canada.
The bills, tabled by New Westminster–Burnaby MP Peter Julian and Edmonton–Strathcona MP Heather McPherson, would “strengthen oversight and enforcement to ensure that Canadian corporations respect human rights and the environment abroad,” according to a March 28 party statement.
Bill C-263, tabled by McPherson, would “give the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) the necessary powers to investigate human right abuses by Canadian corporations.”
Bill C-262, tabled by Julian, “enshrine[s] in Canadian law tools to hold Canadian corporations accountable for their actions.”
Both NDP bills have been endorsed by human rights and labour groups, including The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA), who argue the bills “deserve all-party-support,” according to a March 29 statement.
“Canadian companies have been left unfettered for far too long to profit from their harmful overseas practices,” CNCA Policy Director Emily Dwyer said in the statement. “Ending modern slavery, respecting human rights and protecting the environment are non-partisan issues.”
The CNCA also referred to Bill C-262 as “human rights and environmental due diligence.”
The NDP statement announcing the two Private Members’ bills was accompanied by comments from union leaders, including Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.
“Canadian unions welcome these bills to ensure workers and communities aren’t harmed by the overseas business activities of Canadian companies and that they have access to remedy when violations do occur,” Bruske said. “These bills are helping us build back better for everyone by ensuring that labour and human rights are fully respected.”
While the number of tools the federal government can use to mitigate the climate crisis continues to expand, it remains to be seen whether the new Liberal-NDP agreement can deliver when it comes to reducing Canada’s carbon footprint.
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