Canada has unveiled its new road map to slash greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, charting $9.1 billion in new spending on climate initiatives and a vision to reverse and drive down rising carbon pollution from Canada’s oil and gas sector.
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Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault tabled the plan Tuesday morning in the House of Commons.
The plan is a key requirement of the government’s climate “accountability†law that is meant to ensure Canada breaks its losing streak and finally fulfils a promise to reduce greenhouse gas pollution that causes climate change.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, delivering a keynote speech to a convention in Vancouver on Tuesday, called the expected drop in emissions from oil and gas “reasonable†and framed the goal as a push away from corporate fossil fuel interests.
“Big oil lobbyists have had their time on the field. Now it’s over to the workers and the engineers who will build solutions for their sectors, for their communities and for their kids,†Trudeau said.
The plan also charts expected emissions reductions from buildings, transportation, heavy industry and electricity.
To help drive these reductions, the plan includes extra money for federal climate programs, including $2.2 billion for the “Low Carbon Economy Fund,†which finances clean energy projects, $850 millions for clean electricity projects as Canada, and $780 million for projects that conserve wetlands and other natural features that store carbon.
On zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), the plan pledges another $400 million to build more charging stations, and $1.7 billion to extend the incentive program for people who buy these cars. The Canada Infrastructure Bank is also committing to spend $500 million on ZEV infrastructure, the plan says.
The government will also require that at least 20 per cent of new light-duty vehicles sold in 2026 are ZEVs, a threshold that will increase to 60 per cent in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2035. ■