|
New mood on climate front in Canada Incoming government promises new relationship with provinces, territories; growing business support for lower emission levels GARY PARK For Petroleum News
It took only three days for the incoming Canadian government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to draw a sharp distinction between its style and that of former national leader Stephen Harper.
Encouraged by promises of a new relationship within Canada’s levels of government, the 10 provincial and three territorial premiers agreed they will all - except for Newfoundland which will be in the thick of a provincial election campaign - accompany the federal delegation to Paris for the United Nations climate conference, known as COP21, that begins Nov. 30.
To what extent they will be united on a strategy for tackling carbon emissions is less clear.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was adamant that the premiers “want to make sure that whatever Canada is committing to doesn’t kneecap the economy” in the resource producing provinces of Western Canada.
But the big change is a renewed sense of openness among the leaders after nine years when Harper refused to hold what had once been annual conferences and portrayed the chances of ever achieving an inter-governmental pact on climate change as remote and elusive.
‘Engaging with the premiers’ On the heels of his election, Trudeau said he would be “engaging with the premiers in the coming weeks to establish a strong position for Canada so that people know that Canada’s years of being a less-than-enthusiastic actor on the climate change file are behind us.”
He has also acknowledged that the provinces must have the flexibility to achieve whatever reduction targets are set for emissions in their own way.
Although Harper’s administration had attracted international criticism for dragging its feet on a climate policy and for resolutely backing development of the oil sands, he had issued an aggressive target in May for cutting emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
However, Canada remains far short of its previous commitment to lower emissions by 17 percent by 2020.
The Liberal election platform pledged to endorse provincial measures, “including their own carbon pricing policies,” while stopping short of announcing targets.
It also promised to hold a full meeting with the provincial and territorial leaders within 90 days of the Paris summit to develop a “framework to combat climate change,” with expectations that the Paris summit will draw much closer to putting a price on carbon.
Growing business support The Canadian Chamber of Commerce provided indications of growing business support for action to lower emissions at a mid-October meeting when 98 percent of delegates to its annual meeting agreed on a resolution to “use economic instruments, where the federal government is asked to work with the provinces to adopt a national carbon tax or cap-and-trade system to achieve a reduction in GHGs by 2050.”
That coincided with a call by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development for countries and companies around the world to price carbon.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said it was the first “global movement to put a price on carbon at this level and with this degree of unison.”
In the absence of Harper’s refusal to take federal leadership on the issue, some provinces acted on their own.
British Columbia instituted a carbon tax of C$30 per metric ton; Quebec entered a cap-and-trade pact with California, setting a price of C$12-C$15 per metric ton of carbon dioxide, which Ontario said it is open to joining; and Alberta imposed a C$15 per metric ton tax on excess carbon emissions by major industries, which its new Premier Rachel Notley wants to increase and expand.
Quebec has set the most ambitious target, committing itself to cut emissions from its hydroelectric sector to 37.5 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.
| 