The public debate in Canada around carbon emissions and climate change has taken a significant turn.
The question has moved from whether we should do something about reducing emissions to how we should do it.
Canadian provinces are making significant efforts on the climate change file as we approach this fall’s 2015 United Nations Convention on Climate Change summit in Paris. After Ontario unveiled its cap-and-trade system year, 86 per cent of Canadians live under a provincial carbon price.
Some provinces, however, are still being accused of not doing enough to address environmental concerns.
Although there is no one-size-fits-all solution, there is agreement that provincial fragmentation is the most costly and least effective way to address the carbon problem. When Canadian premiers met in April to discuss actions to address climate change and a Canadian energy strategy, they agreed that provinces should work together to achieve consistency in carbon policies. Provinces should be looking to each other for best practices and to build on momentum.
Provinces need a platform to constructively engage different sectors and stakeholders working towards the emissions reduction goal. The B.C. government did just that. Seven years after B.C. introduced its broad-based carbon tax, Premier Christy Clark has taken steps to figure out the next phase of B.C.’s efforts to combat climate change.
The first stage is the announcement of a new Climate Leadership Team. The team brings together experts from the public and private sectors, First Nations and environmental leaders, academia and local governments to find practical and innovative solutions and keep B.C. on track to achieve its greenhouse gas reduction targets. The team is expected to release recommendations by the end of October.
Constructive stakeholder engagement is expected to increase trust between various actors and strengthen sustainability. Thus, the recommendations agreed upon by members of the Climate Leadership Team will not only pave the way for long-term solutions but also provide more certainty to business while at the same time maintaining the deep environmental ethic in the province.
The need to reduce carbon emissions in Canada is indisputable. The task today, and in the future, is to remain vigilant in the search for practical and thoughtful solutions that will help Canada get back on track with its environmental goals. And when we come across such actions, it would be wise not only to applaud them but also to adopt them.
Albertans expect environmental policy to be a priority for the new NDP government. However, there is an air of caution and uncertainty across stakeholder groups because no one knows where the green wind will blow. As the Rachel Notley government steps up to tackle the climate change file – while respecting the economic interests of the province – it would be prudent to look to the experience of our neighbour to the west and embark on a path of constructive engagement.
—By Shafak Sajid, Policy Analyst