Canadians should be pleased to know that they have a solid plan to tackle climate change. This important news was confirmed by a United Nations network of 2,000 scientists of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) who published their third report this past Friday.
The two earlier IPCC reports demonstrated that climate change is real and that the lack of action could have disastrous consequences. Our government accepted these findings, and like everyone who cares about the environment, we greeted Friday’s report with enthusiasm; it told us that real action can produce real results that will ultimately help in our fight against global warming.
Make no mistake – Canada is playing catch-up after years of Liberal talk and inaction. We have just passed the ninth anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto protocol, which committed Canada to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. However, under the Liberal government, we went in the wrong direction.
The good news is we are turning the corner. The strategy of Canada’s New Government to have greenhouse gases go down, instead of up, will help make Canada a world leader in the fight against climate change.
Our strategy is ambitious as the one laid out in the IPCC report. The report says that greenhouse gases need to be stabilized by 2015. Our plan calls for greenhouse gases to stop rising by 2012 at the latest.
There is nothing we can do, however, to change the dismal record of Canada’s last government.
When the Kyoto starting pistol went off, the Liberals went dashing off in the wrong direction. By contrast, many European countries made impressive progress toward the Kyoto finish line. Some European reductions of greenhouse gases resulted from factors such as economic restructuring after the collapse of the Soviet empire and the fall of the Berlin wall, but many European countries also implemented effective policies to reduce greenhouse gases, and for that they deserve to be applauded.
Our plan is ambitious, but realistic. In short, we will finally do what should have done a decade ago. Had our plan been implemented in 1997 by the Liberals, Canada would now be arriving at the Kyoto finish line abreast of Europe’s top performers.
Let’s be clear – we cannot catch Europe before it reaches the Kyoto finish line in 2008. Europe is practically there already, while Canada has a long way to go. But we can make up lost ground. Between now and 2020, Canada will begin to catch up.
Our plan will deliver significantly greater greenhouse gas reductions than almost any other country in the world. Canada’s greenhouse gas reductions between now and 2020 will not only measure up to the European Union’s – our reductions will be even deeper. Our plan will reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent between now and 2020, while the European Union plans to cut its emissions by 14 per cent during the same period.
Our new approach sends a clear signal to industry. For the first time in this country, reducing greenhouse gas emissions will not be a voluntary option. All major Canadian industrial sectors will have to respect demanding mandatory targets to reduce their greenhouse gases or face the full legal force of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, including fines of up to $1 million a day.
The IPCC report also called for an integrated approach to climate change and air pollution. The report points out that this is the most cost-effective way to proceed.
Our strategy is certainly in line with this suggestion. We have put forward a combined policy to reduce greenhouse gas and air pollution. The Liberals, by contrast, had no plan to tackle air pollution while in government, and they stripped the air pollution pieces out of the Clean Air Act.
Bottom line, Canada’s New Government will help our country make up lost ground with the European Union, it will address many concerns raised in the latest IPCC report, and it will help make Canadians proud of their contribution to the international fight against climate change.
