Trudeau outlines a hands-on strategy for the climate crisis

Mandate letters from cabinet ministers released last week hint at a government-wide approach to tackling the climate crisis, but the devil will be in the details, many environmentalists say.

The mandate letters outline the government’s expected priorities, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has directed the cabinet to seek solutions to climate change that distribute many critical tasks across multiple ministries.

“We’re seeing support, at least on paper, for a whole-of-government approach to climate change, and that’s really important because historically climate was only addressed by ECCC (Environment and Climate Change Canada),” said the National Policy Manager with the Climate Action Network of Canada, Caroline Brouillette.

“We know that climate change affects all sectors of our economy and our societies, so a whole-of-government approach is absolutely necessary.”

Build climate resilient infrastructure, limit emissions from the oil and gas sector, achieve a 100% net zero power grid by 2035, provide international climate finance, develop a government-wide emergency preparedness strategy, and require that regulated institutions at the federal level develop and disclose Climate risks and net zero plans are just some of the important climate-related proposals included in the new mandate letters from the liberal government.

These objectives are distributed in departments such as Public Safety, International Development, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change of Canada, Finance and others.

Freeland in charge of climate finance regulations

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Climate change, for example, is largely reflected in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s mandate letter, which requires her to ensure that all budget measures are in line with Ottawa’s net zero target for 2050. , work on just transition legislation with other departments, eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. in conjunction with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and launch a $ 5 billion green bond program, among other things.

Perhaps most importantly, your mandate letter requires mandatory climate-related financial disclosures and zero net plans from federally regulated institutions, including banks, pension funds, and other government agencies.

It remains to be seen if these mandatory disclosures and zero plans “are going to be a really strong regulatory focus or not, but that could have a bigger impact than most other government measures,” said the manager of the national Environmental Defense program, Give him Marshall.

“If this is strong regulation, it could have a big impact on money flows, private and public, in the future and lead to more climate action or lead to more fossil fuels,” he added.

Adam Scott, Director of Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, said National Observer of Canada The implication of the new finance minister’s mandate letter is that various Crown corporations will have to change their mandates to align with net zero targets.

“Export Development Canada ranks high on that list,” said Scott.

EDC keeps much of its funding secret for stated reasons of corporate competitiveness, but its international funding for fossil fuels is estimated to be somewhere between $ 2 billion and $ 9 billion from 2018 to 2020. EDC also has a separate commitment to ending international financing of fossil fuels, which would bring it closer to being in line with Ottawa’s climate goals.

Canada also provides more funding to the fossil fuel sector than any other G20 country, channeling that money primarily through the EDC. For example, in 2018-19, Enbridge received more than $ 300 million from EDC for business in the United States, while Calgary-based Parex Resources received at least $ 94.5 million in loans for oil extraction and gas in Colombia that same fiscal year.

EDC’s billions pale in comparison to the hundreds of billions of assets managed by the Canada Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, both Crown corporations that control assets worth nearly $ 750 billion worldwide. Canada Post’s pension plan is smaller, but still has assets worth roughly $ 27 billion.

As Crown corporations, they are all expected to develop plans to align with a zero net future, making the finance department a key player in Canada’s upcoming climate policy.

“It’s great to make a promise that budgets need to align with climate goals, but when we don’t really have clarity on what those goals are, for example reducing fossil fuels rather than increasing them while investing in carbon sequestration is not proven, it’s hard to give much thought to that promise, ”said Amara Possian, Canadian campaign manager for climate advocacy group 350.org.

Scott said another important area to watch will be the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the federal financial regulator. OSFI regulates banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. While net zero plans will need to be developed, how quickly emissions will be reduced is an open question, which could translate into Paris Agreement The goal of keeping warming at 1.5 C is impossible if steep emission cuts are not achieved soon, he said.

“Good goals are really critical, but we won’t be successful at any of this if creative accounting is allowed to continue, and that’s what we have a lot of right now,” Scott said. “Creative accounting may come in the form of playing with offsets, it may be playing with the reference year, and it may be playing greenwash.”

Changing mandates

From the letters of mandate to other government departments, NRCan has also seen a significant shift in its priorities since 2019.

“NRCan’s role went from being seen as a promoter of natural resource extraction in a context of status quo to positioning the ministry as a proactive actor in the energy transition,” said Brouillette. “Historically, ECCC and NRCan would operate in silos rather than in a complementary and consistent way, (but now) we are seeing a lot of files shared by Ministers (Steven) Guilbeault and (Jonathan) Wilkinson.”

In fact, the first cartoon by the then Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan, Mandate letter 2019 it was “build and complete the Trans Mountain Pipeline twinning,” with other references in the letter to ensure the energy sector remains competitive. By contrast, Minister of Natural Resources Wilkinson Mandate letter 2021 It doesn’t mention Trans Mountain (TMX) once, and the only reference to the oil and gas sector is limiting emissions.

Possian said TMX will be a litmus test for the federal government’s commitment to respond meaningfully to climate change given that every credible energy forecast, whether international or Domestic, shows a drop in oil demand in all scenarios.

“You’d think that a budget aligned with our climate goals would cut off public funding for that project. But so far, Trudeau doesn’t even seem open to the idea of ​​reconsidering pipeline approval in the wake of those reports, as well as the wildfires and floods along the pipeline route, so it’s hard to imagine Chrystia Freeland delivering an estimate. which is really aligned with the commitment of this government to keep warming below 1.5 C ”, he said. National Observer of Canada.

Who is responsible for Canada’s climate action?

Environmentalists have long called for a whole-of-government approach to tackling climate collapse as a way to prevent one department’s progress from being wiped out by another, but a more comprehensive strategy raises concerns about who is ultimately responsible for what. .

“It seems like it’s an open question with this administration where the ball really stops on climate, and that could be a problem given the lack of clarity in our administration’s approach to delivering on its climate promises,” Possian said.

Recently, the federal climate watchdog accused the Trudeau government of “policy inconsistency” in a series of scathing reports after discovering that it was pursuing policies, such as TMX, that directly undermined its own climate goals. A few days later, the Prime Minister’s Office announced the mandates of its new cabinet committees and had two climate committees with identical commands but totally different members.

Despite multiple attempts at clarification, PMO spokeswoman Cecely Roy was unable to identify any difference between the two.

“As we finish the fight against COVID-19 and build a resilient recovery, both committees will be able to work on policies to ensure they promote economic growth that works for Canadians and builds a cleaner, greener future,” he said repeatedly . National Observer of Canada earlier this month.

However, in the future, recently passed legislation could help hold the government accountable for its action on climate change, Brouillette said.

“There are definitely concerns around accountability for climate change. Historically, we have not met all the climate goals that we have set for ourselves, ”he explained. “However, I think a large part of that answer lies … within the Canadian Net Zero Emissions Accountability Act, where a minister, Minister Guilbeault, has a responsibility to present plans that show how we are meeting our climate goals “.

That plan is expected to be unveiled in March.

“I think it will be a key moment to set an important precedent in terms of transparency, accountability and rigor of the first plan that will be presented under this new climate responsibility framework that we have in Canada, but also a place to attribute a clear responsibility to some specific measures, ”he said.

John Woodside / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada National Observer