Canada’s Failure to Act on Climate Change
By: Rozali Telbis
Tags: Climate Change, Politics, Climate, Climate Action, Policy

The Canadian government recently introduced a bill to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050 — but unfortunately, much like the government’s climate emergency declaration in June 2019, it falls flat in a big way.

Firstly, the first five-year emissions-reduction target is set for 2030, which directly conflicts with mounting evidence that climate change must be tackled in the next decade to prevent irreversible damage. The bill, introduced as an “accountability framework,” also buys the government ample time to sidestep responsibility while claiming to be proactive about climate policy. By the time the first target rolls around, Trudeau will be long gone and resting easy knowing he will be given credit for introducing the bill — leaving the dirty work of implementation and politicking to another political mouthpiece. Another shortcoming of the bill is that it fails to include a comprehensive plan to actually meet targets — and, consequently, it fails to include penalties for not meeting targets. As we have seen with the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, excluding penalties for non-compliance gives an easy way out for participating countries to bow out of their climate commitments.

A more immediate concern of the net-zero emissions bill is that it directly contradicts the government’s continued support for fossil fuels through pipeline projects like Trans Mountain and Keystone XL, leaving many to question the government’s sincerity in tackling climate change.

As it stands, the bill is neither pragmatic nor comprehensive — if anything, it symbolizes Canada’s overall underwhelming and meagre approach to climate action.

Canada’s Climate Goals Deemed “Insufficient”

In 2019, Climate Transparency, a coalition of international climate organizations, reported that Canada’s plan to meet its emission targets are among the worst of any other G20 country, with oil and gas and transportation sectors contributing for more than half of total emissions.

The same year, Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand delivered her final audits, concluding that Canada’s “slow action” to deal with climate change is “disturbing.” In a statement, Gelfand said, “For decades, successive federal governments have failed to reach their targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the government is not ready to adapt to a changing climate.”

Gelfand’s statement came a day after Environment Canada scientists warned that “Canada is warming up twice as fast as the rest of the world, causing irreversible changes to our climate.”

Additionally, Climate Action Tracker, an independent international think tank, assessed Canada’s climate mitigation goals and deemed the commitments to be “insufficient.” If Canada wants to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals, it would need to reduce GHGs 60% below 2005 levels by 2030, while also ramping up investment in climate mitigation efforts.

Despite these disappointing numbers, on the campaign trail in 2019, Trudeau claimed that Canada was “on track” to reduce emissions by 30 percent by 2030, as per its commitment outlined in the Paris Agreement. That claim was later disproven by his own government. If the Paris Agreement’s participating countries continue shirking their climate commitments, we will well be on track to warm the planet between 2.6 degrees and 3.9 degrees in no time — proving that a partially-binding, no-penalty agreement doesn’t actually achieve much.

Trudeau also promised his government would plant two billion trees over the next 10 years if re-elected (to this day, no budget has been allocated towards making this happen). He also met with Greta Thunberg, hoping he would get positive press for doling out empty platitudes about climate action in Canada, though this PR stunt unsurprisingly exposed Trudeau’s spineless stance on setting “ambitious” climate policy that he purports to support.

Climate action was brought up again amid the pandemic — this time it was included in Canada’s coronavirus recovery plan, with Trudeau pledging to make more ambitious climate action. “Climate action will be a cornerstone of our plan to support and create a million jobs across the country,” Trudeau declared.

Bailing out Oil & Gas

The federal government may be slow to enact climate policy, but it hasn’t been slow to bail out oil and gas. Days after declaring a national climate emergency, the Canadian government approved the expansion of Trans Mountain pipeline, with Trudeau assuring the Crown corporation that Canadians would foot the $12.6 billion bill for the pipeline expansion, despite mounting opposition and evidence that the pipeline is economically unviable; poses environmental risks; and violates Indigenous sovereignty — all of which undermine Trudeau’s commitments to the climate, clean energy, and reconciliation. The expanded pipeline, running from Alberta to BC, would triple the capacity of the existing pipeline, from 300,000 barrels of oil a day to 890,000.

To add insult to injury, Trudeau is still pushing the Keystone XL pipeline, a $7-billion investment, despite years-long courtroom battles and setbacks. The pipeline would carry crude oil from Alberta to Nebraska, and then to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. This pipeline, too, poses great risks to the environment, threatens local biodiversity, and violates Indigenous rights.

Added together, the projected cost of both pipelines is estimated to be a total of $19 billion. All of this money could have been redirected towards a just transition — one that prioritizes clean jobs, clean energy, and green economies. It would have put Canada at the forefront of leading actual ambitious climate policy that Trudeau is so keen on touting. This could have been the opportunity to tangibly mitigate human-caused climate change.

Words Won’t Save Us

Trudeau masquerades as being progressive while continuing to support a dying industry that harms people and the planet. He espouses progressive ideology for social issues (especially when it concerns identity politics), but for everything else, he is slow to act. But climate change won’t wait for incremental policies — and it certainly won’t wait for governments who capitulate to the fossil fuel industry. Like any politician, Trudeau is good with empty platitudes. “Building back better” and talks of “bold solutions” are just that: talk. People won’t be pacified by empty promises. Words may be enough for Justin Trudeau, but they are not enough for us — or the planet.