With the release of Ottawa’s new “2030 Emissions Reduction Plan” this week, Canada has entered a new phase of climate policy.
The new climate plan is the first to be produced under the new Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which mandates that governments show how they will meet emissions targets and regularly report on their progress.
So, it’s high time the country started doing what it takes to meet our target.
This is Canada’s 10th climate plan since 1990, and only the second to offer a plausible strategy to meet a national target.
In December 2020, the federal government released a strengthened climate plan.
The new plan focuses on Canada’s updated 2030 target, setting out specific measures, backed by an implementation schedule and a summary of economic modelling underpinning emissions projections.
But they, in turn, should expect to be held to the same standard in future elections and government.
That’s typically a multi-step process, starting with a discussion paper, followed by opportunity for public comments, release of a draft regulation, another opportunity for comments and finally adoption of a legally binding standard by cabinet.
Even as public attention wanes, the industries facing regulatory compliance costs remain highly engaged, at every opportunity making their case for concessions, delays and subsidies.
We’ll get a first signal on subsidies in the forthcoming federal budget.
For some measures, including the emissions cap on the oil and gas sector and new methane regulations, the new climate plan offers a schedule only for the next step — a discussion paper — but no indication when the regulation will be finalized.
Although the new plan proposes a 31 per cent cut below 2005 levels, it flags the possibility of “time-limited” reliance on domestic and international carbon offsets.
However, the track record of domestic offsets is far from reassuring, as Nic Rivers, Mark Jaccard and I have previously warned.