Earth Day good chance to start living up to green commitments

It’s time to focus on the conversations we need to have, writes Mike Hudema.

More than 100 world leaders will gather in New York on Friday to sign the climate accord forged in Paris. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be one of them.

Within the agreement is the goal to stabilize global temperature rise to as close to 1.5° Celsius as possible.

That isn’t just a number. Stabilizing temperatures at 1.5°C is vital for the survival of millions of people on the planet. It is also the level that scientists say gives us the best chance to prevent runaway climate change — the point where climate change starts feeding itself and we are unable to do anything to stop it.

Unfortunately, because we have waited so long to address the crisis, our timeline is short and our required treatment plan is pretty severe.

Climate scientists in Paris and here in Canada have started looking at what the 1.5°C target means for Canada. Their initial assessment is that to do our share, Canada will need to almost completely decarbonize our economy by 2030. Let that sink in for a moment. The science is saying that Canada has 14 years to get off fossil fuels. That’s a herculean task. It might not even be possible. But if we care about life on this planet, we need to do our best and get as close to that number as we can.

That means we can’t waste time talking about building new pipelines. The transition to a renewable energy future won’t happen overnight but it definitely won’t happen if we accelerate in the opposite direction.

What we need to talk about and plan for is how we can phase out fossil fuels and speed the uptake of renewables, sustainable transportation and energy efficiency while supporting workers, First Nations and communities in the process.

These are hard conversations because they affect people’s lives and their families but the impacts of not having those discussions will be much worse.

I think Canadians and Albertans are up for the challenge.

Around the world, countries are speeding the transition. Denmark is looking to get 100 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2030. Sweden is on the road to becoming completely carbon neutral, and by 2020, more than 100 million homes worldwide will run on the power of the sun.

Domestically, even without much national leadership, people and communities across Canada are starting to make the green transition. Groups like Iron and Earth are helping oilsands workers transition into renewable energy. First Nations communities like the T’Sou-ke First Nation in B.C., the Deer Lake First Nation in Ontario, and the Lubicon First Nation in Alberta have already implemented renewables and have plans for more.

Greenpeace Canada and partners just released a report (100,000+ jobs: Getting Albertans back to work by building a low-carbon future) outlining the tremendous job creation potential Alberta has — it could create over 145,000 jobs — by investing in renewables, energy efficiency and sustainable transportation. But it’s not enough. We need more national and provincial leadership to help speed the move. Addressing the climate crisis requires all hands on deck and more ambition from every level.

That’s why, with the carbon clock ticking, it’s time we dumped the pipeline conversations, started listening to the science and focused on the conversations we need to have.

April 22 is Earth Day. It’s a day when we give thanks to the earth. Let’s make sure this Earth Day we do exactly that and live up to the global commitments we just made in New York.

If we do, we not only help save the planet but we will put Alberta and Canada on a path that creates jobs, cleans our environment and builds an economy of the 21st century.

That’s a vision we should all get behind.