Canadá : August 17, 2009

Looking at how governments around the world are designing their economic recovery packages, what we here in Canada are seeing is a global green recovery.  Many stimulus packages include plans for smart electric grids, improving energy efficiency, urban transit, and low carbon energy systems including wind, solar, biomass and nuclear power.  Canada, however, may not do as well in this area compared to other countries as the nation currently lacks a coherent strategy to develop new green industries and its fiscal commitment to green energy is relatively small.

The federal government’s 2009 economic action plan includes a new Clean Energy Fund providing $1 billion over five years for energy research and demonstration projects.  However, $650 million of this fund is committed to carbon capture and storage leaving just $350 million for all other initiatives.  Moreover, Canada is dragging its heels on dealing with climate change while its neighbor to the south seeks to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050 using 1990 emissions as the benchmark.  Canada, on the other hand, seeks a reduction of 60 to 70 percent by 2050; however, it is using 2006 emission levels as the benchmark.  Without a clear plan and set strategy, there is little incentive for businesses to change behavior and it makes one wonder how lower carbon emission goals will be achieved.

Not all news is bad.  At the recent G8 meeting in Italy, Canada joined the other industrialized nations promising an “ambitious” plan to slash greenhouse gases over the next four decades.  The government has set a deadline of June 1, 2010, for Canadian industrial emitters of greenhouse gases to report their 2009 GHG emissions.  The data collected will be used to create a domestic GHG inventory to harmonize emissions reporting across all the country’s jurisdictions.  The reporting requirement applies to all facilities emitting over 50,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents per year. With the longest marine coastline in the world and an economy which is sensitive to climate changes, Canada is particularly vulnerable to global warming.  As our government is considered the worst performer within the G8 on climate change, the country needs to take a strong stand on the issue of GHG emissions and set meaningful goals in reducing them.