Canada's climate is changing. We feel it every season. We see it with a melting Arctic ice cap, catastrophic floods, ice storms and droughts. Climate change is estimated to have already cost Canadian insurance companies hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 10 years.
For more and more Canadians, there is a growing sense that something must be done. That something starts with meeting our Kyoto commitments. Canada has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. But instead of meeting our pledge, federal environmental policies have led to a 24 per cent increase in gas emissions beyond 1990 levels. And yet, Kyoto is only the first step to halting global climate change and reducing air pollution.
While most countries in Europe are well on their way to meeting their Kyoto targets, the Liberal government lacks the political courage to introduce long-lasting policies that will meet Canada's Kyoto commitments. The Conservative Party, like U.S. President George Bush, dismisses the importance of Kyoto and even question the very threat of climate change.
The Green Party will push to implement a coherent and transparent environmental policy focused on achieving Kyoto targets and going beyond those goals after 2012. The Green Party will make Canada a global leader in the battle against climate change.
Green Party MPs will work to:
- Shift taxes on fossil fuels to earlier stages in the production cycle to encourage competition among companies to lower operating costs while reducing emissions.
- Increase emission reduction targets for large industrial emitters to at least 55 Megatonnes above and beyond other policies and measures that reduce industrial emissions.
- Targets should be based on actual emissions, not emissions intensity per unit of production, and all data should be available for public scrutiny.
- Expand the proposed National Emissions Trading System so that it will ensure real emission reductions across sectors.
- Use revenue from tradable pollution permits to offset tax breaks for increasing energy efficiency and industry initiatives that reduce fuel consumption.