Liberals table climate ‘accountability’ legislation
Law requires hitting targets on path to 2050 and net-zero emissions
OTTAWA—The Liberal government’s new climate “accountability” law relies on the pressure of public reporting to ensure future governments finally achieve what this country has never done: meet a stated goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Tabled Thursday, the “Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act” creates a legal requirement for the federal government to release action plans to hit a series of targets on the path to net-zero emissions by 2050 — a key milestone considered necessary to avoid the worst consequences of climate change this century.
If Canada fails to hit a target, the bill requires the government to table a report in Parliament about what went wrong and what is being done to get back on track.
Canada has missed every emission target it has ever set in a global agreement, starting with the pledge it made at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
“There is a tremendous amount of transparency and accountability required, but ultimately the accountability of government actions or inactions is from Canadians themselves,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday.
“I am confident that as Canadians continue to demand that governments take real action on climate change, the consequences for a government that doesn’t lead on climate change, doesn’t understand that creating good jobs and economic growth happens in tandem with protecting the environment — the consequences will be far greater than anything you could write into legislation,” he said.
But while the general thrust of the bill was welcomed by environmental groups and business associations like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, some also raised concerns that the law does not include a required emissions target until 2030. Trudeau promised during the 2019 federal election to create “legally binding” targets every five years.
On Thursday, the prime minister repeatedly dodged questions from reporters about why the bill doesn’t include a requirement to create a target for 2025. As written, the proposed law mandates Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson to set a target and detailed climate plan for 2030 within six months after the bill comes into force.
West Coast Environmental Law said the law needs to “prioritize immediate climate action” by setting a 2025 target, while the David Suzuki Foundation said it would push for the bill to be changed to include one.
Catherine Abreu, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada, also told the Star the bill should include a “strong reference” to a 2025 target.
“There is a real emphasis in this bill on the minister’s duty to report rather than to achieve our climate commitments, and that is another thing we will be working to change through the amendments process,” she said.
The opposition was more critical, with Green Leader Annamie Paul declaring the bill a failure because it focuses on reporting requirements and does not spell out targets or specific actions to slash emissions between now and 2050. In a statement, she called the law a “blueprint for more delays, more inaction.”
Conservative MP Dan Albas, the party’s shadow environment minister, said the government needs to be “transparent with Canadians” about what the Liberals will do in pursuit of net-zero emissions. “Canadians are worried that he plans to dramatically increase carbon taxes, and they are worried about the impact this will have on the cost of gas, groceries, and home heating,” his statement said.
The federal government’s carbon price includes rebates meant to cover additional costs for consumers, and it is only currently scheduled to increase until 2022, when it hits $50 per tonne of emissions.
On Thursday, Wilkinson said the government will reveal more elements of its plan to “build back better” from the COVID-19 pandemic over the coming weeks, which will include measures to transition Canada to a carbon-neutral economy.
The accountability bill is the first major piece of that climate plan, and is designed to ensure the country reduces greenhouse gas pollution from the most recent tally of 729 megatonnes in 2018 to its stated goal of net-zero, where emissions are totally eliminated or offset by 2050.
Over their first four years in power, the government spearheaded the creation of a pan-Canadian framework to fight climate change, which includes a national minimum carbon price, a plan to phase out coalfired electricity, and coming regulations to reduce powerful methane emissions and mandate the use of cleaner fuel.
But those measures are projected to fall short of what Canada needs to achieve its commitment to the world under the international Paris Agreement to slash emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 — a target the Liberals have already pledged to exceed but have not yet specified by how much.
Thursday’s bill lays the legal framework to make sure that happens. It requires the federal environment minister to heed “the best scientific information available” to set emissions targets every five years along the way, starting in 2030. It mandates the government to declare its 2030 target and release a “reduction plan” to achieve it within six months after the bill passes.
The bill would also create a special panel of up to 15 members appointed by cabinet to advise the environment minister on how to reduce emissions.
Future plans would need to be released at least five years before the targets for 2035, 2040 and 2045. These plans must include descriptions of key measures the government is taking to hit the targets, as well as “any relevant” strategies for certain sectors of the economy, the bill says.
There are also requirements for progress reports to be tabled in Parliament at least two years before each target, as well as a requirement for the federal environment commissioner — an independent agent of Parliament — to report on Canada’s efforts to fight climate change at least once every five years.