On March 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that climate change is real and poses a great threat to humanity’s future. We must cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by one-half every decade going forward to address the threat of climate change. We are in a climate emergency. Canadian youth are telling us what to do: Listen to the experts and work together to create a balanced future.
(This post is sourced from Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada (CCLCanada) resources: an April 30 media release, conference booklet and a leave-behind document targeting elected officials lobbied by CCL volunteers.)
Creating a Balanced Future – Steady Progress
The federal government has put a national price on carbon pollution. The Supreme Court has affirmed the federal government’s right to do so. The federal government has committed to net-zero by 2050 and has introduced a bill to create climate accountability mechanisms to achieve this goal. It is also studying border carbon adjustments (BCAs). CCL fully supports the federal backstop, which returns carbon dividends to Canadian households. On Earth Day 2021, at the Leader’s Climate Summit, Canada committed to reducing its GHGs to at least 40% below our 2005 levels by 2030.
Growing Support for Carbon Pricing: Major Canadian and U.S. oil companies, the Canadian Mining Association, and many other organizations have endorsed carbon pricing. In the USA, 3,589 economists have endorsed the Carbon Dividends model of pricing carbon including 28 Nobel Prize winners.
More on carbon pricing: the most Silver Bullet-ish Policy we know of
The good news: As of March 2021, 46 countries have legislated carbon pricing, and 97 countries have carbon pricing in the commitments to the United Nations. To promote harmonization of carbon pricing internationally, the European Union will enact BCAs by January 2023. The United States is considering implementation of carbon pricing and BCAs, too.
Unfortunately, there is some bad news. Canada’s emissions have been steadily rising since the Paris Agreement increasing by 0.2% in 2019—one megatonne over 2018. The energy sector alone accounts for 81% of Canada’s total GHGs.
Recommendations
Cooperate in Reducing GHG Emissions
- CCLCanada recommends that all provinces and territories cooperate with the federal government to set and achieve GHG emissions reduction targets that will meet the Paris Agreement objective of holding global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
- Overall the provinces must harmonize provincial climate accountability legislation across the federation.
Enhance Carbon Pricing
- We support the federal government’s announced intention to gradually increase the federal carbon price to $170/tonne by 2030.
- We recommend that the vast majority of collected funds be equitably returned to citizens and that there be transparency in how these funds are distributed.
- We support economy-wide carbon pricing.
- We must receive our rebates quarterly through a dividend cheque or a direct deposit.
Prepare for BCAs:
- We recommend that Canada’s carbon pricing policies be harmonized in terms of the price of carbon pollution, coverage (GHG emissions and sources of emissions) and transparency.
“CCL Canada is a volunteer-driven and non-partisan organization. Since 2010, we have been focused on advocating for an incrementally increasing price on carbon pollution with 100% of the revenue returned directly and equitably back to citizens. To date, we have 42 active chapters covering over 120 ridings across the country and have met with government officials over 1200 times.” — Cathy Orlando, CCL Canada Director
ICYMI:
Carbon Pricing Survives in Canada – Now Time To Move On
Carbon Pricing Is The Best Tool To Bridge Canada’s 2030 Emissions Gap
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