hulse and brouillette: a climate carol — will canada heed the warnings and meet its emissions targets?
in the original story, the ghosts visited scrooge because there was still time for him to change his ways. there is still time for canada to change course too on greenhouse gas emissions.
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just as marley's ghost appears to scrooge to warn him, myriad expert reports and other opportunities are warnings for canada too.
john leech (1817-64), world history archive
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flight collection / newscom
it’s like canada is living the climate version of charles dickens’s christmas carol.
the ghost of climate past: canada’s history of missed greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions targets.
the ghost of climate present: a record-setting 15 million hectares of forests across canada burned by wildfires in 2023, which forced tens of thousands to evacuate and clogged the lungs of millions more.
and the ghost of climate future: last week’s report by the federal commissioner of the environment and sustainable development concluding that canada is not on track to meet its 2030 emissions target.
will scrooge — or the federal government in this version of the tale — heed these warnings? will it change course and ensure we meet our upcoming emissions targets: a 20 per cent reduction by 2026 and a 40 to 45 per cent reduction by 2030 (below 2005 emissions levels)? or will our actions continue to fail to live up to our promises?
recent climate actions by the federal government don’t inspire much confidence. recently, it paused the application of the carbon price to home heating oil, undermining the application of one of canada’s flagship and most hard-fought climate policies. the government did boost federal funding for heat pumps for low-income households by up to by $5,000, but this positive step is already being drowned out by calls from provincial governments across canada to further whittle away the carbon price.
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fortunately, canada has two key opportunities in the coming weeks to reassure canadians that it is acting on climate change with the seriousness that this crisis demands.
the first is required by law. the canadian net-zero emissions accountability act requires the federal government to draft climate plans and publish reports about the implementation of these plans. the first of these progress reports is due by the end of 2023.
we have heard from the environment commissioner — who is independent from the government — and now we need to hear from our government itself. given what we know, this progress report must be more than just a glossy brochure with vague reassurances. canadians need a detailed account of the progress we have made, as of 2023, on the way to our 2026 and 2030 targets. we need to know how far the federal climate plan is expected to get us to our targets and, critically, how the government will fill any shortfalls that remain.
the report must make the case for policies like the oil and gas emissions cap and clean electricity regulations, policies that — if strong enough — will help get us back on track. an honest appraisal of our current status and a credible plan to meet our targets will help regain the support of a large demographic: climate-anxious citizens.
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the second opportunity comes at the first-ever “global stocktake” under the paris agreement, taking place in december at the cop 28 international climate conference in dubai. the stocktake is a check-in on the international community’s collective progress — or lack thereof — on slashing ghg emissions, building resilience to climate impacts, and securing finance and support to address the climate crisis.
by the end of cop 28, participating countries, including canada, are supposed to agree on how they will each make best use of the stocktake’s findings in order to reach the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius. this requires that canada apply the findings to its own climate action planning.
in the original story, the ghosts visited scrooge because there was still time for him to change his ways. there is still time for canada to change course too. it starts with the federal government being honest — at home and aboard — about its climate progress. after the terrible year of wildfires we have had, canadians deserve the unvarnished truth from the federal government as well as effective actions to turn our emissions around. we cannot afford to miss another target.
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matt hulse is a lawyer at ecojustice working on federal climate accountability. caroline brouillette is the executive director of climate action network canada.
editor’s note: this article has been updated to clarify federal funding for heat pumps for low-income households.
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