Canada’s Net-Zero Economy: Securing Prosperity in a Net-Zero World
A pan-Canadian conference on the risks and opportunities ahead
Key links:
Event details:
Monday, October 25, 2021, from 1pm – 5pm (ET)
Presented by:
The Net-Zero Advisory Body and The Canadian Institute for Climate Choices
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Net-Zero Advisory Body responds to today’s announcement of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions target for 2035
Net-Zero Advisory Body responds to today’s announcement of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions target for 2035
The Government of Canada announced today a national greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for the year 2035 of 45-50% below 2005 levels. As members of the Net-Zero Advisory Body (NZAB), a group of independent experts charged with providing independent advice to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, we encourage the government to strive to achieve, as a minimum, the upper end of the selected 45-50% target range.
In our recent report to the Minister, we recommended that the government adopt a reduction target of 50-55% by 2035. Our modelling and analysis showed that targets below 50% will put Canada behind on its legislated objective of net-zero emissions by mid-century. Postponing action means requiring even deeper decarbonization efforts in the future, which could bring higher risks and costs.
We need a national effort to reach, and ideally surpass, a 50% reduction by 2035 while ensuring climate policies are affordable for Canadians. Getting to this milestone, and realizing the many benefits of the transition to a low-carbon economy, will require greater ambition from provinces, territories, municipalities, the private sector as well as the federal government.
Ambitious climate plans are needed to take advantage of Canada’s opportunities in a low-carbon economy. Governments around the world are increasingly recognizing that decarbonization is a unique opportunity to increase economic prosperity and jobs, as well as human and environmental health. The UK announced the equivalent of a 78% reduction below 2005 levels for the year 2035, following the recommendation of its climate advisory group, the Climate Change Committee; the EU is expected to choose a 2035 target in a similar range. Japan has recently proposed a 60% reduction target, in order to stay on a pathway to net-zero.
To facilitate climate action, we have also advised the government to develop a carbon budget, i.e. a total of intended future emissions. Carbon budgets are used by countries like the UK and France, as well as cities like Montreal and Edmonton, to better track the impact their emissions have on the planet. Annual targets only measure the amount of emissions in one year. Yet what matters to the climate is the total emissions over time.
By setting a carbon budget, Canada can better connect the dots between its short-term targets and its long-term goal of net-zero emissions. Evidence from other jurisdictions shows that this cumulative approach to managing emissions helps motivate early action and highlights the trade-offs associated with policy decisions affecting different sectors.
The lower range of the government’s target risks Canada’s ability to stay on track for net-zero emissions. Not using a carbon budget approach further weakens the feedback needed to keep Canada on track. Our research supports our advice that including a carbon budget in Canada’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution, due to be submitted to the UN next year, would better facilitate the transition than point in time targets alone.
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The NZAB was established in 2021 through the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. We are mandated to provide the Minister of Environment and Climate Change with independent advice with respect to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and on interim emissions targets. Our recent report, “Climate’s Bottom Line: Carbon Budgeting and Canada’s 2035 Target”, was prepared in response to a request from the Minister for advice on the setting of Canada’s 2035 target. A companion report, “Closing the gap: Reaching Canada’s 2030 Emissions target”, provided advice on how to achieve Canada’s 2030 target.
We Want to Hear From You – Public Engagement Period Now Open Until December 6, 2024
Help us develop advice on Canada’s options to address excess emissions. Share your input on describing Canada’s net-zero energy system future and provincial and territorial contributions to Canada reaching net-zero.
The Net-Zero Advisory Body (NZAB) is mandated to provide the Minister of Environment and Climate Change with independent advice with respect to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Our independent advice takes into account the best scientific information available, Canada's international commitments with respect to climate change, and Indigenous knowledge.
Engagement is fundamental to the NZAB’s advice, ensuring that our advice to the Minister is informed and reflects the diverse perspectives from across Canada and requiring close collaboration with Indigenous partners, provinces and territories, industry and civil society.
This is an important time for the NZAB. We are undertaking a variety of projects and initiatives to inform our advice to the Minister. This is why we have devised a questionnaire to help develop advice in a collaborative manner.
Current engagement period: open now through December 6, 2024.
To have your voice heard:
- Download the PDF file below containing the questionnaire (Press ↓ under Share this post).
- Fill out all the questions you wish to answer.
- Send completed questionnaires to gcpc-nzab@ec.gc.ca no later than December 6, 2024.
If your submission is on behalf of an organization, please include the name of the organization with your questionnaire submission.
If you are submitting as an individual, to help protect your privacy, you are encouraged not to provide any personally identifiable information.
Thank you for your continued engagement to inform Canada’s pathways to net-zero.
Links
- Climate's Bottom Line: Carbon Budgeting and Canada’s 2035 Target
- Technical Annex (Canadian Climate Institute): Options for Canada's 2035 emissions reduction target
NZAB Carbon Budget Panel at COP29
Members from Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body will be attending the 29th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP), taking place this year in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22. The NZAB is hosting an event at the Canadian Pavilion on November 16.
The Net-Zero Advisory Body is pleased to host Climate's Bottom Line: Carbon Budgets and Global Collaboration at COP29. This will be an international dialogue on carbon budgets as a science-based tool to spur climate action. It will feature insights and findings from our recent report: Climate's Bottom Line: Carbon Budgeting and Canada's 2035 Target in which we recommend developing a national carbon budget.
Panelists will share perspectives and experiences with carbon budgets, which have been implemented in several countries to better track the effect of policy decisions on the climate and the consequences of delaying action. Carbon budgets specify the total greenhouse gas emissions permitted over a period of time to limit a specific global temperature increase. Akin to a household budget, national carbon budgets can help ensure countries “spend only what they can afford” by tracking cumulative emissions or “expenses” over time and allocating them based on the remaining greenhouse gas emissions in the budget.
The panel will include remarks from Catherine Stewart, Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change, and feature our co-chair Simon Donner and member Catherine Abreu along with Ben Rhodes, head of the International Climate Councils Network Secretariat, Heleen de Coninck, vice-chair of the Netherlands Scientific Climate Council, and Piers Forster, chair of the UK Climate Change Committee. The panelists will share their perspectives and experiences with carbon budgets, discuss their scientific basis, and identify how carbon budgets can be used alongside other measures to track emissions and communicate national progress towards achieving global climate objectives.
Links
Compete and succeed in a net zero future
Concrete solutions that the Government of Canada should implement to ensure that Canada benefits from a carbon-neutral global economy, accelerates the achievement of a carbon-neutral economy and generates clean prosperity for generations to come.