Are you excited, as I am, that Canada’s new government has promised that Canada will do “its fair share” to fight climate change? Or perhaps a little skeptical, given the failure of past governments to live up to their climate pledges?
What exactly does Canada’s “fair share” mean? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to sit down with premiers “within 90 days” of the Paris conference to “work together on a framework to combat climate change.” That means that the premiers should be hard at work on this national framework by 11th March 2016 at latest!
It’s crucial that Canada’s national framework result in real and ambitious action on climate change. Our recent report, A Carbon Budget for Canada, released during the Paris talks, explains how a Canadian “carbon budget” can bring rigour and scientific integrity to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
Click here to challenge the Prime Minister and provincial/territorial governments to adopt West Coast’s recommendations for a national climate leadership framework for Canada.
So what does A Carbon Budget for Canada recommend?
The key recommendations of our proposed framework include:
- Carbon Budgets – Translating greenhouse gas targets into short- and mid-term carbon budgets allows easy comparison of federal and provincial targets, makes it easier to define roles and responsibilities, ensures that steady, measured progress is being made, creates transparency around government actions through regular reporting, and facilitates planning efforts;
- Science Committee – An expert-based scientific committee with representatives appointed by both the federal and provincial governments will provide the best available scientific information to all levels of government in setting carbon budgets, and in developing plans to achieve those budgets. In addition, the Committee will play a key role in monitoring government progress towards achieving carbon budgets;
- Planning commitments – Each province, and the federal government, would develop plans, with the help of the Science Committee, on how to achieve the carbon budgets; and
- Reporting – Each province and territory, and the federal government, would report regularly on its steps to achieve its carbon budgets, and the Science Committee would evaluate their progress.
This approach is based on existing laws with a proven track record – from the United Kingdom’s Climate Change Act, which has seen that country successfully meet several successive greenhouse gas reduction targets, and Canada’s Species At Risk Act which has forced even reluctant Canadian governments to adopt a science-based approach to contentious questions around endangered species.
Take Action
We hope that you will join with us in calling on Canada’s Prime Minister and Environment Minister, and the provincial environment ministers, in adopting a rigorous science-based approach to carbon budgeting and planning, to ensure that Canada’s climate targets are ambitious, and our plans to meet them are effective.
By Andrew Gage, Staff Lawyer